About developing with the ArcGIS REST API
The ArcGIS REST API allows you to work with services hosted on ArcGIS Online, including the ready-to-use services hosted by Esri. Furthermore, you can use the REST API to manage users, groups, and items hosted on ArcGIS Online or your own portal.
Rather than develop directly against the REST API, you may choose one of the ArcGIS APIs for JavaScript, Flex, Silverlight, iOS, Android, Windows Phone, and so forth, that are built on top of the REST API. See the ArcGIS Web APIs and ArcGIS Runtime SDKs for descriptions of these client APIs.
What's included in the ArcGIS REST API?
The ArcGIS REST API allows you to work with the ArcGIS platform using web services. In the context of ArcGIS Online, the REST API helps you work with the following services:
Map services
ArcGIS Online includes online maps published and hosted by Esri that you can use as your basemap framework for deploying GIS maps and applications to your users, both inside and outside your organization. This online content includes basemaps, reference layers, and specialty maps. Online map layers that you can use within your own map documents and applications include multiresolution imagery, street maps, topographic maps, shaded relief, demographic maps, and more. You can see a list of the available maps through the Esri Maps and Data group in ArcGIS Online. The URLs for the services can be found in the corresponding item details pages in ArcGIS Online. For more information on accessing the content programmatically, see ArcGIS REST API. For more information, see About developing with map services.
Task services
ArcGIS Online task services are published and hosted by Esri and include task-based functional services such as place finding and geocoding, routing and network analysis, and spatial query. You can see a list of the available tasks through the Esri Maps and Data group in ArcGIS Online. The URLs for the services can be found in the corresponding item details pages in ArcGIS Online. For more information on accessing the content programmatically, see ArcGIS REST API.
The ArcGIS REST API provides clients with REST methods that can be used to find locations given their textual representation. The methods can also be used to add spatial information to business data such as tables of addresses. These task-based methods allow you to geoenable your existing applications and deploy on any device. You can add points on a map from spreadsheets of addresses, create drive-time service areas around locations, study the affects of new business development on neighborhoods, and so on. For more information, see About developing with task services.
ArcGIS Online hosted services
Members of an ArcGIS Online organization can publish their maps and data as web services that are hosted within ArcGIS Online as part of their organizational portal. These ArcGIS Online hosted services are designed for map visualization, editing, and query. They include feature services as well as tiled map services.
ArcGIS Online hosted services communicate through the GeoServices REST Specification and can consequently be used by Esri and non-Esri applications. This is the same REST structure that is used to access geospatial services running within ArcGIS for Server. For more information, see ArcGIS REST API. Developers who want to consume a hosted service can find the URL for the service in the corresponding item details page in ArcGIS Online.
One way to view your services is through the ArcGIS.com map viewer, but you can also create your own applications using the ArcGIS viewers for Flex or Silverlight, or the ArcGIS APIs for JavaScript, Flex, Silverlight, iOS, Android, and Windows Phone. Other supported client applications include ArcGIS Explorer (online and desktop versions) and ArcMap. For more information, see What are ArcGIS Online hosted services?
Services for working with users, groups, and items
The ArcGIS REST API also allows you to work with users, groups, and items from ArcGIS Online or an internally deployed portal created with Portal for ArcGIS. You can build web, mobile, and desktop applications that support sharing and collaboration using web maps. You can also use the API to publish hosted services to ArcGIS Online or your own portal. For more information, see About developing with portal services.