Re: How much REST should your Web API get?

On May 2, 2013, at 2:34 PM, Jan Algermissen <[email protected]> wrote:
> I'd say, the vast majority of Web APIs fails to be RESTful because people simply did not follow the style. Show me a single example that has been deliberately designed  unRESTful on the basis of design principles.

I think that last statement is demonstrably provable to be false. To make a web API purely RESTful takes more effort on the part of the client and some who have published web APIs have on purpose chosen not to require that effort. I can't point to specific APIs at this moment but I know I've read posts from others on various other web API-related lists such as API Craft saying that pure REST makes it harder than they want for people to succeed at using their web API.  

Of course if they then call their web API RESTful they are in the wrong.

Further, and this (only) a slight tangent but the more I learn about pure REST the more I come to believe that the focus on hypermedia constraint it a red herring when an application-specific media type is not used. AFAICT very promoting hypermedia make the explicit point that hypermedia does not bring the benefits of REST without a dedicated media type. By itself hypermedia just adds complexity; with a dedicated media-type a client can be built that "knows" what do with the links found in the media type but I see (almost?) nobody advocating this besides some cryptic comments from Roy on his blog almost 5 years ago.

-Mike