Re: whenToUseGet-7 Making SOAP Restful

On Fri, Apr 26, 2002 at 07:09:03PM -0400, noah_mendelsohn@us.ibm.com wrote:
> Mark Baker writes:
> 
> >> But IMO, trying to build something HTTP-like on top of 
> >> SOAP, which in turn will often be on top of HTTP, is 
> >> quite impractical and unnecessary.
> 
> I think this is a reflection of the Web's failure, so far, to separate a 
> generic REST layer, from its embodiment in a particular protocol (HTTP). 

Could you clarify what you mean by "generic REST layer"?  Do you perhaps
mean that you'd like to see REST distilled into something that could be
mapped onto other protocols?

To save a round trip of emails, I'll assume your answer is "yes".  If
not, kindly disregard the next two paragraphs. 8-)

FWIW, I call this view the "API-centric view", because the network
interface is defined in terms of APIs, not in terms of protocols.
A telling characteristic of this view, in my experience, is that
application protocols are seen as transport protocols, because they all
just exist to transport an envelope which carries these APIs.  IMO, this
view is prevalent within the XML Protocol WG, the Web Services
Architecture WG, and with Web services proponents and developers in
the large.

Roy did a great job at explaining the difference between a transport
protocol and an application protocol.  I won't attempt to add anything
to that.

> Guidance sought from the TAG:  it's obvious there is a desire among some 
> correspondents to drill on the SOAP/REST issue.  It's not clear to me that 
> the www-tag list is the right place to hash out the details (or that this 
> necessarily is the right time.)  Should we move this discussion to 
> distApp?  How should we manage the need to figure drill on the 
> SOAP/REST-specific issues, while also keeping the Tag in the loop on the 
> underlying SOAP/REST/is-the-web-rest-only/is-soap-a-broken-w3c-activity 
> discussion?  Thanks.

We could move it to www-talk, and if any progress is made we could
report back.

MB
-- 
Mark Baker, Chief Science Officer, Planetfred, Inc.
Ottawa, Ontario, CANADA.      mbaker@planetfred.com
http://www.markbaker.ca   http://www.planetfred.com

Received on Friday, 26 April 2002 23:41:28 UTC