What are the considerations for pagination in a REST API?

Short answer: Always return limited results (avoid huge payloads). Provide page and limit parameters → /users?page=2&limit=20. Return metadata → { "page": 2, "totalPages": 10 }. Support cursor-based pagination for large datasets.

Real-world example (ShopNest)

Creating an order is POST /api/orders → 201 with Location header. Fetching is GET /api/orders/{id} → 200 or 404.

Say this in the interview

1. Define — one clear sentence (the short answer above).
2. Example — relate it to a project like ShopNest or your real work.
3. Trade-off — when you would not use it.