How does PUT differ from PATCH?

PUT and PATCH are HTTP methods for updating resources, but they differ in meaning and behavior:

• PUT replaces the entire resource. When you send a PUT request, the server expects a complete representation of the resource, and the existing resource will be fully overwritten.
• PATCH is used for partial updates. Only the fields that need to be changed are sent in the request body, and the rest remain unchanged.

For example, if you have a user object with fields name, email, and phone:

• A PUT request must contain all three fields; otherwise, missing fields will be deleted.
• A PATCH request can contain only the email to update just that, without touching the other fields.