use Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\JsonResponse;

/**
 * Class JsonApiArticlesController
 * @package Drupal\mymodule\Controller
 */
class JsonApiArticlesController {

  /**
   * @return JsonResponse
   */
  public function index() {
    return new JsonResponse([ 'data' => $this->getData(), 'method' => 'GET', 'status'=> 200]);
  }

  /**
   * @return array
   */
  public function getData() {

    $result=[];
    $query = \Drupal::entityQuery('node')
      ->condition('type', 'article')
      ->sort('title', 'DESC');
    $nodes_ids = $query->execute();
    if ($nodes_ids) {
      foreach ($nodes_ids as $node_id) {
        $node = \Drupal\node\Entity\Node::load($node_id);
        $result[] = [
          "id" => $node->id(),
          "title" => $node->getTitle(),
        ];
      }
    }
    return $result;
  }
}

use Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\JsonResponse;

// if you know the data to send when creating the response
$response = new JsonResponse(['data' => 123]);

// if you don't know the data to send or if you want to customize the encoding options
$response = new JsonResponse();
// ...
// configure any custom encoding options (if needed, it must be called before "setData()")
//$response->setEncodingOptions(JsonResponse::DEFAULT_ENCODING_OPTIONS | \JSON_PRESERVE_ZERO_FRACTION);
$response->setData(['data' => 123]);

// if the data to send is already encoded in JSON
$response = JsonResponse::fromJsonString('{ "data": 123 }');

RESTful Example using jQuery and core REST module

CREATE Item

var package = {}
package.title = [{'value':'t1'}]
package.body = [{'value':'b1'}]
package._links = {"type":{"href":"http://local.drupal8.org/rest/type/node/page"}}
$.ajax({
  url: "http://example.com/entity/node",
  method: "POST",
  data: JSON.stringify(package),
  headers: {
    "Accept": "application/json",
    "Content-Type": "application/hal+json"
  },
  success: function(data, status, xhr) {
    debugger
  }
})

GET Item

$.ajax({
  url: "http://example.com/node/3?_format=hal_json",
  method: "GET",
  headers: {
    "Content-Type": "application/hal+json"
  },
  success: function(data, status, xhr) {
    debugger
  }
})

GET an Item and then UPDATE Item

$.ajax({
  url: "http://example.com/node/3?_format=hal_json",
  method: "GET",
  headers: {
    "Content-Type": "application/hal+json"
  },
  success: function(data, status, xhr) {
    var package = {}
    package.title = data.title
    package.body = data.body
    package.title[0].value = 'yar'
    package._links = {"type":{"href":"http://example.com/rest/type/node/page"}}
    debugger

    $.ajax({
      url: "http://example.com/node/3",
      method: "PATCH",
      data: JSON.stringify(package),
      headers: {
        "X-CSRF-Token": "niCxgd5ZZG25YepbYtckCy7Q2_GL2SvMUY5PINxRAHw",
        "Accept": "application/json",
        "Content-Type": "application/hal+json"
      },
      success: function(data, status, xhr) {
        debugger
      }
    })
  }
})

Drupal protects its REST resources from CSRF attacks by requiring a X-CSRF-Token request header to be sent when using a non-safe method. So, when performing non-read-only requests, that token is required. 
Such a token can be retrieved at /session/token.

GET an Item and then UPDATE Item with CSRF token.

$.ajax({
  url: 'http://example.com/session/token',
  method: 'GET',
  success: function(token) {
    var csrfToken = token;

    $.ajax({
      url: "http://example.com/node/3?_format=hal_json",
      method: "GET",
      headers: {
        "Content-Type": "application/hal+json"
      },
      success: function(data, status, xhr) {
        var package = {};
        package.title = data.title;
        package.body = data.body;
        package.title[0].value = 'yar';
        package._links = {"type":{"href":"http://example.com/rest/type/node/page"}};
        debugger

        $.ajax({
          url: "http://example.com/node/3",
          method: "PATCH",
          data: JSON.stringify(package),
          headers: {
            "X-CSRF-Token": csrfToken,
            "Accept": "application/json",
            "Content-Type": "application/hal+json"
          },
          success: function(data, status, xhr) {
            debugger;
          }
        });
      }
    });
  }
});

DELETE Item

$.ajax({
  url: "http://example.com/node/3",
  method: "DELETE",
  headers: {
    "Accept": "application/json",
    "Content-Type": "application/hal+json"
  },
  success: function(data, status, xhr) {
    debugger
  }
})