On 19/12/06, Stefan Tilkov <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > > > On Dec 19, 2006, at 5:19 PM, Steve Jones wrote: > > [...] > > > > Which came first the Web or the REST paper? The answer is of course > > the Web, REST does a good job of documenting much of the mechanics of > > how the Web works, but if the REST paper didn't exist the Web would > > still have been as successful. > > > > The REST paper does a good job of documenting what existed and then > > suggesting new ways in which it could be used. It documents > > pre-existing elements such as the return codes and the operations and > > suggests how an increase in formalism (e.g. GET = idempotent) could > > help applications perform. It also then further proposes how > > server->server collaborations could be built by using the same > > hyperlink approach that was previously used for browsers. > > > > So REST doesn't _define_ the way the Web works, it _documents_ and > > proposes how it could _also_ be used. There is a big difference > > between the two. > > > > TBL defined the core of the Web, lets not go all historical > > revisionism just yet. > > Steve, it's become very tiring to argue with you in this thread so I > backed out of it. Still, you might want to read chapter 6 of the REST > dissertation [1] again (try it, it's very readable and non-technical) > and then reconsider these statements.
I had got that far before, but I'd missed a few important lines in the paper last time through in terms of dates. So fair play Fielding was considering these elements when working on the HTTP specs. (I have a thing about ignoring the top and tail and just reading content in techy papers) So yup for Fielding in his work he was thinking about REST when he worked on those specs. So the architectural model for the Web is REST. (See I can be convinced when there is evidence :) This does change my view > > I have some understanding for arguing that the success of the Web as > a hypermedia system might not prove its applicability for company- > internal, application-to-application integration scenarios. But with > all due respect, claiming that the Web is not REST just seems silly > to me. As it does to me know I've re-read the top and bottom of that section. > > Stefan > -- > Stefan Tilkov, http://www.innoq.com/blog/st/ > > [1] http://www.ics.uci.edu/~fielding/pubs/dissertation/evaluation.htm > >
