:original_name: dcs-api-0417001.html
.. _dcs-api-0417001:
API Usage Guidelines
====================
Distributed Cache Service (DCS) APIs comply with the RESTful API design principles. REST-based web services are organized into resources. Each resource is identified by one or more Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs). An application accesses a resource based on the resource's Unified Resource Locator (URL). A URL is usually in the following format: **https://Endpoint/**\ **uri**. In the URL, **uri** indicates the resource path, that is, the API access path.
DCS APIs use HTTPS as the transmission protocol. Requests/Responses are transmitted by using JSON messages, with media type represented by **Application/json**.
For details on how to use APIs, see `API Usage Guidelines `__.