How to distinguish HTTP methods GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, and DELETE in the context of REST API?

In REST API, HTTP methods are used for different operations with resources:

• GET — retrieve data. Safe and idempotent method, does not change the server state.
• POST — create a new resource or perform an operation that changes the state. Not idempotent.
• PUT — complete update of a resource. Idempotent, repeated requests with the same data will not change the result.
• PATCH — partial update of a resource. Not necessarily idempotent, depends on implementation.
• DELETE — delete a resource. Idempotent, repeated calls will delete the resource or return that it does not exist.

Example:

Method	Operation	Idempotency	Usage example
GET	Get data	Yes	Get list of users
POST	Create resource	No	Create a new user
PUT	Update resource	Yes	Replace user profile
PATCH	Partially update	Partially	Update user's email
DELETE	Delete resource	Yes	Delete user

Example in Java using Spring:

@GetMapping("/users/{id}")
public User getUser(@PathVariable String id) { ... }

@PostMapping("/users")
public User createUser(@RequestBody User user) { ... }

@PutMapping("/users/{id}")
public User updateUser(@PathVariable String id, @RequestBody User user) { ... }

@PatchMapping("/users/{id}")
public User patchUser(@PathVariable String id, @RequestBody Map<String, Object> updates) { ... }

@DeleteMapping("/users/{id}")
public void deleteUser(@PathVariable String id) { ... }