Re: the meaning of stateless

Mark Baker wrote:
>
> On the other hand, I agree that most of the interesting and important
> properties to concern one's self with are those that derive from - as
> Roy says - "representation by reference", though AFAICT, that is
> synonymous with "stateful".
> 

I think "stateful" is exactly what Roy meant but didn't want to say;
why else point out that the concern should be what properties are _lost_
by representation by reference, when those lost properties are the ones
the stateless-messaging constraint intends to enforce?

As to payment method, no this doesn't need to be included in the cart,
if there's a pre-arranged means on file.  The authorization header
allows this to be stateless.  So maybe the cart only includes the last
four digits of a stored CC number, as this is what's revealed to the
user for selection/confirmation.

-Eric