REST
REST strictly refers to a collection of network architecture principles which outline how resources are defined and addressed. The term is often used in a looser sense to describe any simple interface which transmits domain-specific data over HTTP without an additional messaging layer such as SOAP or session tracking via HTTP cookies.
REST Principles:
- Application state and functionality are divided into resources
- Every resource is uniquely addressable using a universal syntax for use in hypermedia links
- All resources share a uniform interface for the transfer of state between client and resource, consisting of
- A constrained set of well-defined operations
- A constrained set of content types, optionally supporting code on demand
- A protocol which is:
- Client-server
- Stateless
- Cacheable
- Layered
REST:
Difference between POX/HTTP, SOAP, and REST....
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REST is an architectural style that is independent, but compatible, with XML. It’s about identifiable resources, resource representations, a fixed (uniform) interface, and linking. HTTP is REST’s most popular instantiation.
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POX/HTTP means exchanging plain old XML documents over HTTP. RESTful POX, i.e. using XML in a RESTful manner, would mean POX is a subset of REST. Many, if not most POX applications don’t care about REST very much, though — they’d thus be part of a distinct set of applications.
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SOAP is a standard document format for building high-level protocols. Anything that uses SOAP is (by definition) not just using plain old XML, and thus not POX; it may be RESTful, unless it violates REST principles.
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