Which API operations are idempotent and why are they important for address management?

• A. GET and POST
• B. PUT and DELETE
• C. POST and PATCH
• D. GET and PATCH

Answer: (B)

Idempotence means sending the same request multiple times yields the same result as sending it once. For address management, this reliability matters because network retries or repeated calls should not create duplicates or leave the data in an inconsistent state. A PUT operation targets a specific resource and sets it to the exact state provided; sending it again with the same data keeps that resource unchanged, so repeated updates stay safe. A DELETE operation removes a resource, and repeating the delete leaves the resource gone with no extra effects, making retries harmless. By contrast, GET is only for retrieval and doesn’t modify state, while POST generally creates new resources and PATCH applies changes incrementally, which can lead to different results on repeated calls.