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WhatIsREST.com

Introduction to Services
- Overview
- Service
- Service Contract
- Service Capability
- Service Consumer
- Service Agent
- Service Composition
- Services and REST
REST Constraints
- Overview
- Client-Server
  - Overview
  - Profile
  - Related Excerpts from Fielding's Dissertation
- Stateless
  - Overview
  - Profile
  - Related Excerpts from Fielding's Dissertation
- Cache
  - Overview
  - Profile
  - Related Excerpts from Fielding's Dissertation
- Uniform Contract
  - Overview
  - Profile
  - Related Excerpts from Fielding's Dissertation
- Layered System
  - Overview
  - Profile
  - Related Excerpts from Fielding's Dissertation
- Code-on-Demand
  - Overview
  - Profile
  - Related Excerpts from Fielding's Dissertation
REST Architectural Goals
- Overview
- Performance
- Scalability
- Simplicity
- Modifiability
- Visibility
- Portability
- Reliability
Uniform Contract Elements
- Overview
- Resource Identifier Syntax (and Resources)
- Methods
- Media Types
REST Service Contracts
- Capability and Contracts
- REST Service Contracts vs. Non-REST Service Contracts
  - Overview
  - Non-REST Service with Custom Service Contract
  - REST Service with Uniform Contract
  - HTTP Messaging vs. SOAP Messaging
- Hypermedia and Late Binding
  - Overview
  - URI Templates and Resource Queries
  - REST Service Contracts and Late Binding
State Management Explained
- Overview
- Origins of State Management
- Deferral vs. Delegation
- Types of State
  - Overview
  - Active and Passive
  - Stateless and Stateful
  - Session and Context Data
  - Measuring Service Statelessness
Web-centric Industry Standards
- Overview
- The Internet Engineering Taskforce (IETF)
- The World Wide Web consortium
- Other Web Standards
Service Technology Specs
- Overview
- SOA Specs
- Semantic Web Specs
- Cloud Computing Specs
- Web/REST Specs
- WS-* Specs
- Component Specs
- XML Specs

Home > Introduction to Services > Services and REST

Services and REST

REST is one of several implementation mediums that can be used to create services. Another common implementation medium is Web services, a technology platform based on the use of industry standards, such as WSDL and SOAP. This Website is dedicated specifically to exploring REST service design, but does make occasional reference to non-REST service mediums (such as Web services) for comparison purposes.

REST services have distinct characteristics that are further explored in subsequent sections. REST enforces a number of design and architectural requirements upon the service contract and logic, but it does not restrict how and for what purpose services can be designed and used individually and in relation to each other. Therefore, you have a great deal of freedom as to how you can carry out a process for modeling and designing REST services intended to automate business logic.

This topic is covered in SOACP Module 1: Fundamental SOA & Service-Oriented Computing.

For more information regarding the SOA Certified Professional (SOACP) curriculum, visit www.soaschool.com.

This page contains excerps from:

SOA with REST: Principles, Patterns & Constraints for Building Enterprise Solutions with REST
by Raj Balasubramanian, Benjamin Carlyle, Thomas Erl and Cesare Pautasso

Foreword by Stefan Tilkov

(ISBN: 0137012519, Hardcover, 577 pages)

For more information about this book, visit www.servicetechbooks.com.