起初，我认为204是有意义的，但经过讨论，我相信404是唯一真正正确的回答。考虑以下数据:

用户:约翰，彼得

METHOD  URL                      STATUS  RESPONSE
GET     /users                   200     [John, Peter]
GET     /users/john              200     John
GET     /unknown-url-egaer       404     Not Found
GET     /users/kyle              404     User Not found
GET     /users?name=kyle`        200     []
DELETE  /users/john              204     No Content

背景知识:

the search returns an array, it just didn't have any matches but it has content: an empty array. 404 is of course best known for url's that aren't supported by the requested server, but a missing resource is in fact the same. Even though /users/:name is matched with users/kyle, the user Kyle is not available resource so a 404 still applies. It isn't a search query, it is a direct reference by a dynamic url, so 404 it is. After suggestions in the comments, customizing the message of the 404 is another way of helping out the API consumer to even better distinguish between complete unknown routes and missing entities.

不管怎样，我的意见。

根据w3，我相信以下几点:

2xx:

这类状态代码表示成功接收、理解并接受了客户机的请求。

4xx:

4xx类状态代码用于客户端似乎出现错误的情况。

如果客户端请求/users，并且它有用户要列出，响应代码将是200 OK(客户端请求有效)。

如果客户端请求/users并且没有数据，响应代码仍然是200 OK。 被请求的实体/资源是一个用户列表，列表存在，只是其中没有任何用户(如果给出空响应，可以使用204 No Content，尽管我认为空列表[]会更好)。 客户端请求是有效的，资源也确实存在，因此4xx响应代码在这里没有意义。

另一方面，如果客户端请求/users/9，而该用户不存在，那么客户端就犯了一个错误，请求了一个不存在的资源，一个用户。在这种情况下，回答404 Not Found是有意义的。

看完疑问后，为什么不应该使用404 ?

根据RFC 7231，正确的状态码是204

在上面的回答中，我注意到一个小错误:

1.—资源为:/users

2.- /users/8不是资源，而是:路由参数为8的资源/users，消费者可能注意不到，也不知道区别，但是发布者知道，而且必须知道!所以他必须为消费者返回一个准确的响应。时期。

so:

基于RFC: 404是不正确的，因为找到了资源/用户，但是使用参数8执行的逻辑没有找到任何内容作为响应返回，因此正确的答案是:204

这里的要点是:404甚至没有找到处理内部逻辑的资源

204是a:我找到了资源，逻辑被执行了，但我没有发现任何数据使用你在路由参数中给出的标准，所以我不能返回任何东西给你。对不起，核实你的标准后再打电话给我。

200:好吧，我找到了资源，逻辑被执行(即使当我不被迫返回任何东西)采取这一点，并在你的意愿使用它。

205:(GET响应的最佳选项)我找到了资源，逻辑被执行了，我有一些内容给你，好好使用它，哦，顺便说一下，如果你要在视图中共享这个，请刷新视图以显示它。

希望能有所帮助。

在这个场景中，Ruby on Rails响应404 Not Found。

客户端请求不存在的资源。因此，404 Not Found更合适。

Edit

我发现，在这种情况下，许多开发人员不喜欢找不到404。

如果您不想使用404，我认为，您可以使用以下两个响应代码中的任何一个:

200好了 204无内容

如果你使用200 OK:响应体应该是空json:[]或{}

如果你使用204 OK:响应体应该为空。

为了总结或简化，

2xx:可选数据:格式良好的URI: Criteria不是URI的一部分:如果Criteria是可选的，可以在@RequestBody和@RequestParam中指定，应该导致2xx。例如:按名称/状态过滤

标准是URI的一部分:如果标准是强制性的，只能在@PathVariable中指定，那么它应该导致4xx。例如:按唯一id查找。

对于所问的情况: "users/9"将是4xx(可能是404) 但是对于“用户”呢?Name =superman”应该是2xx(可能是204)

现有的答案没有详细说明使用路径参数还是查询参数是有区别的。

In case of path parameters, the parameter is part of the resource path. In case of /users/9, the response should be 404 because that resource was not found. /users/9 is the resource, and the result is unary, or an error, it doesn't exist. This is not a monad. In case of query parameters, the parameter is not part of the resource path. In case of /users?id=9, the response should be 204 because the resource /users was found but it could not return any data. The resource /users exists and the result is n-ary, it exists even if it is empty. If id is unique, this is a monad.

使用路径参数还是查询参数取决于用例。我更喜欢将路径参数用于强制的、规范的或标识参数，将查询参数用于可选的、非规范的或属性参数(如分页、排序区域设置等)。在REST API中，我会使用/users/9而不是/users?Id =9，特别是因为可能嵌套获取“子记录”，如/users/9/ SSH -keys/0获取第一个公共SSH密钥或/users/9/address/2获取第三个邮政地址。

我更喜欢使用404。原因如下:

Calls for unary (1 result) and n-ary (n results) methods should not vary for no good reason. I like to have the same response codes if possible. The number of expected results is of course a difference, say, you expect the body to be an object (unary) or an array of objects (n-ary). For n-ary, I would return an array, and in case there are not results, I would not return no set (no document), I would return an empty set (empty document, like empty array in JSON or empty element in XML). That is, it's still 200 but with zero records. There's no reason to put this information on the wire other than in the body. 204 is like a void method. I would not use it for GET, only for POST, PUT, and DELETE. I make an exception in case of GET where the identifiers are query parameters not path parameters. Not finding the record is like NoSuchElementException, ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException or something like that, caused by the client using an id that doesn't exist, so, it's a client error. From a code perspective, getting 204 means an additional branch in the code that could be avoided. It complicates client code, and in some cases it also complicates server code (depending on whether you use entity/model monads or plain entities/models; and I strongly recommend staying away from entity/model monads, it can lead to nasty bugs where because of the monad you think an operation is successful and return 200 or 204 when you should actually have returned something else). Client code is easier to write and understand if 2xx means the server did what the client requested, and 4xx means the server didn't do what the client requested and it's the client's fault. Not giving the client the record that the client requested by id is the client's fault, because the client requested an id that doesn't exist.

最后一点:一致性

GET /用户/ 9 PUT /users/9和DELETE /users/9

PUT /users/9和DELETE /users/9已经必须在成功更新或删除的情况下返回204。如果用户9不存在，它们应该返回什么?根据所使用的HTTP方法将相同的情况显示为不同的状态代码是没有意义的。

Besides, not a normative, but a cultural reason: If 204 is used for GET /users/9 next thing that will happen in the project is that somebody thinks returning 204 is good for n-ary methods. And that complicates client code, because instead of just checking for 2xx and then decoding the body, the client now has to specifically check for 204 and in that case skip decoding the body. Bud what does the client do instead? Create an empty array? Why not have that on the wire, then? If the client creates the empty array, 204 is a form of stupid compression. If the client uses null instead, a whole different can of worms is opened.