Re:Ask HN: What is REST exactly?
by advisedwang on Saturday February 08, 2014 @02:32PM
(#7202233)
REST has two different meanings, which I outline below. Both say each URL identifies a resource, which is represented with a document of some kind.
* The practical, common usage is a remote API built on HTTP, which uses HTTP verbs in a logical manner, exchanging JSON.
* The original meaning is what I believe is now better referred to as "Hypermedia as the engine of state" (HATEOS). In this world a URLs are not meaningful, and clients never construct or parse URLs. Instead a document format (hypermedia) specifies URLs and indicates what they do. The document format drives and defines the API.
* The practical, common usage is a remote API built on HTTP, which uses HTTP verbs in a logical manner, exchanging JSON.
* The original meaning is what I believe is now better referred to as "Hypermedia as the engine of state" (HATEOS). In this world a URLs are not meaningful, and clients never construct or parse URLs. Instead a document format (hypermedia) specifies URLs and indicates what they do. The document format drives and defines the API.
This difference causes some arguments: http://roy.gbiv.com/untangled/2008/rest-apis-must-be-hyperte...