Re:Distributed Systems and the End of the API
by ademarre on Monday May 12, 2014 @09:53PM
(#7736286)
Interesting, thank you; but in that quote isn't Fielding actually comparing RPC and HTTP, not REST?
[ Parent
| on HN ]
Re:Distributed Systems and the End of the API
by steveklabnik on Monday May 12, 2014 @09:55PM
(#7736289)
Yes, you're right, I was being a bit sloppy there. The Uniform Interface (and Layered System) is one of the ways in which HTTP does follow RESTful principles, though, so the thrust is still the same.
Re:Distributed Systems and the End of the API
by ademarre on Monday May 12, 2014 @10:15PM
(#7736322)
Agreed. But I think it's a stretch to conclude that Fielding doesn't think the hypermedia principle is an important distinction between RPC and REST:
From his blog post I linked to earlier, titled REST APIs must be hypertext-driven [0]:
> "I am getting frustrated by the number of people calling any HTTP-based interface a REST API. Today’s example is the SocialSite REST API. That is RPC. It screams RPC. There is so much coupling on display that it should be given an X rating.
"What needs to be done to make the REST architectural style clear on the notion that hypertext is a constraint?"
[0] http://roy.gbiv.com/untangled/2008/rest-apis-must-be-hyperte...