Re: the meaning of stateless

On May 4, 2013, at 5:07 PM, Mark Baker <[email protected]> wrote:
> On 2013-05-04 3:08 AM, "Mike Schinkel" <[email protected]> wrote:
> >> Isn't the server-side shopping cart not then "resource state?"
> 
> Thanks for asking that question, Mike. It's why I've found that there's not as much enlightenment as you'd think in looking at the problem that way.
> 
> Yes, the shopping cart is resource state, but it's also session/application state in the context of that final purchase message.
> 
> When you think about it, *any* state can be given a URI, but doing so doesn't un-make it session state if its being used that way.
> 

Thanks for answering.  

Any guidance then on how to identify a resource state that is "acting like" session state?  I thought I had working guidelines with "application state" vs. "resource state" but every time I try to come up with a set of heuristics to use to evaluate use-cases someone I respect says something else on this list or others that contradicts my understanding and I find myself spinning in circles.

-Mike