REST is the acronym for REpresentational State Transfer, and is a
term coined by Roy Fielding [1] in a dissertation attempting to describe
formally the Web architectural style.
The argument is that the HTTP methods (GET, POST, etc.) define a limited set
of verbs that can be applied to an (in principle) infinite number of
nouns (URIs).
This design has some beneficial effects:
- •
It allows simpler interoperation between otherwise uncoordinated agents
(web clients, servers, spiders, etc.)
- •
The HTTP semantics constitutes a coordination language general enough to
be of use in any desired communication pattern. Its methods make it akin
to message passing or function calling protocols.
- •
Offering a service is a simple as publishing a URL.
[1] Roy Fielding's Ph.D. dissertation
"Architectural Styles and the Design of Network-based Software Architectures"
