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Many APIs use versioning to keep the current namespace clean while still supporting the old version. It goes like /v1/getPosts, /v2/post/get, etc. This might b

by kijin 5y ago

Many APIs use versioning to keep the current namespace clean while still supporting the old version. It goes like /v1/getPosts, /v2/post/get, etc. This might be argument in favor of preemptively adding another level of hierarchy to your URLs, so that when the time comes to move the entire site to a new backend, you can just proxy the entire /2019/ hierarchy to a compatibility layer. But who are we kidding, we live in a world where 12 months of support for a widely used framework is called "LTS". Nobody seems to care whether their domains will even resolve in 10 years.

ketzu 5y ago
> Many APIs use versioning to keep the current namespace clean while still supporting the old version. It goes like /v1/getPosts, /v2/post/get, etc. I think that is an important thing to do (as I agree desigining URIs is important!) I am just not sure it is reasonable, or even desireable, for them to be indefinately maintained. I am not sure what the right timeframe for deprecation would be either.
- kijin 5y ago
  I don't think it would be feasible to maintain a fully functional copy of a dynamically generated page at the old URL for any length of time. That's just a recipe for security nightmare, not to mention the SEO penalty for duplicate content. 301/308 redirects, on the other hand, can be maintained more or less indefinitely as long as you keep around a mapping of old URLs to new URLs. If you need to change your URLs again, you just add more entries to the mapping database. Make your 404 handler look up this database first. One thing you can't do, though, is repurposing an existing URL. Hence the versioning. :)
- giantrobot 5y ago
  URLs should be maintained even if the content is gone. At the very least you can give a useful HTTP return code, a permanent redirect or gone is more useful than a catch-all 404. You're either bridging old links to current links or telling visitors the old content has been removed.

by kijin 5y ago

ketzu 5y ago

> Many APIs use versioning to keep the current namespace clean while still supporting the old version. It goes like /v1/getPosts, /v2/post/get, etc. I think that is an important thing to do (as I agree desigining URIs is important!) I am just not sure it is reasonable, or even desireable, for them to be indefinately maintained. I am not sure what the right timeframe for deprecation would be either.

kijin 5y ago
I don't think it would be feasible to maintain a fully functional copy of a dynamically generated page at the old URL for any length of time. That's just a recipe for security nightmare, not to mention the SEO penalty for duplicate content. 301/308 redirects, on the other hand, can be maintained more or less indefinitely as long as you keep around a mapping of old URLs to new URLs. If you need to change your URLs again, you just add more entries to the mapping database. Make your 404 handler look up this database first. One thing you can't do, though, is repurposing an existing URL. Hence the versioning. :)
giantrobot 5y ago
URLs should be maintained even if the content is gone. At the very least you can give a useful HTTP return code, a permanent redirect or gone is more useful than a catch-all 404. You're either bridging old links to current links or telling visitors the old content has been removed.