Spring MVC (https://docs.spring.io/spring/docs/current/spring-framework-reference/web.html) is the default solution to work with the servlet API within Spring applications. It is a request-based system and abstracts the servlet API to make it easier to design controllers to serve HTTP requests. REST is the de facto standard for designing API endpoints these days, and Spring MVC REST is a specific subset that makes it easier to design and implement RESTful services.