4 ms·
> What they describe is not REST. [...] a strict requirement of the REST architectural style. [...] You have a word "REST" for which you are apparently granted
by mcherm 10y ago
> What they describe is not REST. [...] a strict requirement of the REST architectural style. [...]
You have a word "REST" for which you are apparently granted access to Plato's "true" definitions, which enables you to tell me that REST requires hyperlinks, but not naming conventions or HTTP verbs.
I reject your definition.
Go ahead and use that word "REST" however you like. I will continue using it to describe what you consider to be "ad hoc JSON-over-HTTP services".
Sure, I've read Fielding's dissertation.[1] I think stateless, cacheable, layered systems are a great idea. I think "code on demand" is (usually) a stupid one... even if it does turn out to work surprisingly well for web browsers. But none of those matter.
I work with people who build "ad hoc JSON-over-HTTP services". They spend hundreds of millions of dollars building ad hoc JSON-over-HTTP services. They call them "REST" services.
I have to talk to these people, so I call them "REST" services too. Because I'd rather build something useful than spend time telling people that they're using a word "wrong", when the only real meaning of a word is whatever it will bring to mind in the person you are communicating with.
[1]: http://www.ics.uci.edu/~fielding/pubs/dissertation/top.htm http://www.ics.uci.edu/~fielding/pubs/dissertation/top.htm
- daliwali 10y agoI am not the authority on what REST is. That would be Roy Fielding, who has explicitly stated that hypermedia is a requirement[1]. So go ahead and tell Mr. Fielding that his definition of REST is incorrect. I am well aware that REST no longer means what it originally described, which is why I think it should go by another term that is not burdened by being a marketing buzzword. [1]: http://roy.gbiv.com/untangled/2008/rest-apis-must-be-hypertext-driven http://roy.gbiv.com/untangled/2008/rest-apis-must-be-hyperte...
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- solipsism 10y agoDon't worry, the term HATEOAS won't become trendy any time soon.
- ryeguy 10y agoIt's far too late for that. REST as you describe it is not commonly known as REST. People refer to it as HATEOAS or "real REST" or "hypermedia REST". Just saying REST without qualification refers to resource-oriented json based apis.
- webmaven 10y ago"Hypermedia APIs" seems to be the up-and-coming term.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- mcherm 10y ago> So go ahead and tell Mr. Fielding that his definition of REST is incorrect. Not "incorrect", but I'd be happy to tell him that his term has been co-opted by the programming masses to means something vaguely related to the original meaning but less precise. I suspect Mr. Fielding already knows that. > I am well aware that REST no longer means what it originally described, which is why I think it should go by another term that is not burdened by being a marketing buzzword. I agree there. I think changing how the masses use the term is a lost cause. (Consider the incredibly hard-fought battle to reclaim the original definition of "hacker", which after decades did succeed in establishing it as a secondary definition. That's the most successful case I've ever seen.) So I think ryeguy has it right: call Fielding's definition "HATEOAS" "real REST" or "hypermedia REST" or something.
- rexpop 10y agoWow, it seems linguistic prescriptivism has a stronger foothold in engineering domains. Probably fewer social class issues.
- paulddraper 10y agoWell you sure confused the heck outta me. --- It is really so hard to say "HTTP" instead of "REST"? "Regardless" instead of "irregardless"?