What does RESTful API stand for?

The term RESTful API stands for Representational State Transfer API. This architectural style is designed to facilitate interaction between client and server by using standard HTTP methods such as GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, etc. REST stands for Representational State Transfer, which emphasizes the role of resources and their representations in networked applications.

In RESTful architecture, each resource is identified by a URI (Uniform Resource Identifier), and representations of these resources can be in various formats, such as JSON or XML. This approach allows for a stateless communication where each request from a client contains all the information the server needs to fulfill that request, thus enhancing scalability and reliability.

The other options presented do not accurately describe the RESTful API framework. The emphasis on "Representational State Transfer" captures both the concept of resources being represented in different formats and the stateless nature of the interactions, making it the foundational element of REST architecture.