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API / Apache Grails Interview questions

What is the difference between Grails profiles like "web" and "rest-api"?

A Grails profile determines the base project structure, default dependencies, and starting conventions a generated application uses — picking one when creating a project shapes what the initial skeleton looks like and which patterns feel like the default going forward.

web profilerest-api profile
Includes GSP view support out of the boxOmits GSP dependencies by default, focused on JSON responses
Scaffolding targets full CRUD with viewsScaffolding/generators target REST-style controllers returning data, not HTML
Best fit: traditional server-rendered web applicationsBest fit: backend services consumed by a separate frontend (SPA, mobile app)
URL mapping conventions assume HTML page navigationURL mapping conventions lean toward resource-style REST endpoints

Choosing the wrong profile at project creation time isn't fatal — dependencies and conventions can still be adjusted manually afterward — but starting with the profile that actually matches the application's intended shape avoids pulling in view-rendering machinery a pure API backend doesn't need, or missing GSP support a traditional web app expects out of the box.

Which profile is the best fit for a backend service consumed by a separate frontend, like a single-page app?
Is choosing the wrong profile at project creation a permanent, unfixable mistake?

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