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Question 20 of 100
Basic API Testing
Beginner
Q20: What is the Difference Between Query and Path Parameters?
🔀Core Concept
What is the Difference Between Query and Path Parameters?
Key Takeaways & Architecture Summary
- ✓Path Parameters identify a unique resource; Query Parameters filter the resource list.
- ✓Path parameters are separated by slashes (/); Query parameters start with a question mark (?).
- ✓Path parameters are mandatory for routing; Query parameters are optional.
Direct Answer Summary
Path Parameters are mandatory routing segments embedded in the URL path to locate a specific, unique resource instance. Query Parameters are optional key-value pairs appended to the URL end to filter, sort, or paginate resource collections.
⚠️ Senior Engineering Warning (Red Flag)
Avoid using query parameters to represent hierarchical parent-child relationships. E.g. use /blogs/12/comments, not /comments?blogId=12, as the former clearly representsComments as nested under Blog.
💡 STAR Architectural Explanation & Pro Tip
Correct design helps cache efficiency. Browsers and proxies cache resource paths individually, whereas query parameters can yield varying cache lookup hits depending on key order.
RestAssuredTest.java
Rest-Assured + Java// ✅ Path parameter (Locates specific task 99)
// GET /api/v1/tasks/99
// ✅ Query parameter (Filters task collections by priority)
// GET /api/v1/tasks?priority=high