Скачать или смотреть Understanding the Difference: PATCH vs PUT for Partially Updating Entities in Spring Boot

Learn the best practices for choosing between `PATCH` and `PUT` methods when updating your entity in Spring Boot applications.
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This video is based on the question https://stackoverflow.com/q/68806983/ asked by the user 'Matley' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/6022333/ ) and on the answer https://stackoverflow.com/a/68809495/ provided by the user 'João Dias' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/16572295/ ) at 'Stack Overflow' website. Thanks to these great users and Stackexchange community for their contributions.

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Understanding the Difference: PATCH vs PUT for Partially Updating Entities in Spring Boot

In today's world of software development, it is common to encounter requests to update data within an application. This raises a significant question: When should you use PATCH, and when should you use PUT? This guide answers a specific challenge related to updating an entity in a Spring Boot application, focusing on partially changing attributes rather than replacing entire entities. Let's dissect this topic further.

The Scenario: Updating Your Entity

Imagine you have an entity class, A, that has a nested object of type Template. Your endpoint is designed to handle the operation of updating a specific attribute of this entity:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Your endpoint looks like this:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

You also have a data transfer object (DTO), MyDto, which is utilized to send information:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

The challenge here is to change one value in your entity (specifically, the template) based on the information provided in the MyDto. You want to fetch the template from the database and update it using this single value.

The Core of the Issue: PUT vs PATCH

What’s the Difference?

PUT: This method is used when you want to completely replace a resource. If you had multiple fields in entity A that needed to be updated or replaced, then PUT would be appropriate.

PATCH: This method is designed for partially updating a resource. If your intention is to update only one specific field (in this case, the template), PATCH is the right choice.

Why PATCH is the Best Solution

In your situation, since you only need to change the template, using PATCH is definitely the preferred option. Here’s why:

Resource Specificity: PATCH allows you to make adjustments to specific attributes without needing to send the entire entity back to the server. This reduces network bandwidth and increases efficiency.

Intended Behavior: Your goal is to modify a single part of the entity, which aligns perfectly with the concept behind PATCH.

Addressing the Request Body Concern

The question mentioned a consideration against having a request body. It's important to understand the context:

For a PATCH operation, having a request body is necessary as it contains the information needed to identify what changes should be made (like the templateId).

There are no workarounds to entirely avoid this, as you need the body to specify which resource is to be updated and how.

Conclusion: Making the Right Choice

To summarize, when faced with the choice between PUT and PATCH, you should definitely opt for PATCH in scenarios where you only intend to change part of your entity. Understanding your requirements and selecting the appropriate HTTP method can significantly enhance your application’s performance and usability.

Embrace the power of specific updates to drive your Spring Boot application forward—make your API efficient and straightforward with PATCH whenever possible!