Comments on: What is REST? http://sarahtaraporewalla.com/thoughts/design/what-is-rest/ Tue, 08 Jun 2010 10:50:32 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: Sarah http://sarahtaraporewalla.com/thoughts/design/what-is-rest/comment-page-1/#comment-924 Sarah Thu, 02 Apr 2009 22:08:47 +0000 http://sarahtaraporewalla.com/thoughts/?p=159#comment-924 While a lot of people tend to make a PUT request update a whole object, the HTTP protocol does not enforce this. The server, at all times, holds authority as to what is updated. I choose to take Roy Fielding's definition as the definitive version, given his contributions to HTTP and REST. His opinion is : FWIW, PUT does not mean store. I must have repeated that a million times in webdav and related lists. HTTP defines the intended semantics of the communication -- the expectations of each party. The protocol does not define how either side fulfills those expectations, and it makes damn sure it doesn't prevent a server from having absolute authority over its own resources. Also, resources are known to change over time, so if a server accepts an invalid Atom entry via PUT one second and then immediately thereafter decides to change it to a valid entry for later GETs, life is grand. http://www.imc.org/atom-protocol/mail-archive/msg05425.html While a lot of people tend to make a PUT request update a whole object, the HTTP protocol does not enforce this. The server, at all times, holds authority as to what is updated.

I choose to take Roy Fielding’s definition as the definitive version, given his contributions to HTTP and REST. His opinion is :
FWIW, PUT does not mean store. I must have repeated that a million
times in webdav and related lists. HTTP defines the intended
semantics of the communication — the expectations of each party.

The protocol does not define how either side fulfills those expectations,

and it makes damn sure it doesn’t prevent a server from having
absolute authority over its own resources. Also, resources are
known to change over time, so if a server accepts an invalid Atom
entry via PUT one second and then immediately thereafter decides
to change it to a valid entry for later GETs, life is grand. http://www.imc.org/atom-protocol/mail-archive/msg05425.html

]]> By: Chris Leishman http://sarahtaraporewalla.com/thoughts/design/what-is-rest/comment-page-1/#comment-889 Chris Leishman Tue, 31 Mar 2009 11:53:00 +0000 http://sarahtaraporewalla.com/thoughts/?p=159#comment-889 I think, in your "Representations" section, you mean to say "the message sent by PUT needs specify only parts of the object". POST is about sending a message to a resource. PUT is about updating the resource itself. I think, in your “Representations” section, you mean to say “the message sent by PUT needs specify only parts of the object”.

POST is about sending a message to a resource. PUT is about updating the resource itself.

]]> By: Clinton Begin http://sarahtaraporewalla.com/thoughts/design/what-is-rest/comment-page-1/#comment-825 Clinton Begin Thu, 26 Mar 2009 18:12:05 +0000 http://sarahtaraporewalla.com/thoughts/?p=159#comment-825 However you define it, 'rest' is something good software developers don't get enough of! However you define it, ‘rest’ is something good software developers don’t get enough of!

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