RESTful principles include:
1. **Statelessness**: Each API call must contain all the information needed to understand and process the request, with no stored context on the server.
2. **Client-Server Architecture**: The client and server are separate, allowing for independent development and scalability.
3. **Uniform Interface**: A consistent way to interact with resources, typically using standard HTTP methods (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE).
4. **Resource-Based**: APIs should expose resources (data entities) through URIs, and clients interact with these resources.
5. **Representation**: Resources can be represented in various formats (like JSON or XML), and clients can request the format they prefer.
6. **Cacheability**: Responses should indicate whether they can be cached to improve performance and reduce server load.
These principles guide the design of APIs to be scalable, efficient, and easy to use.