RE: REST wrap-up (was Re: Web Services Architecture Document

Although I more or less agree with everything Mike said in response to
this note, I would have put it differently.  Or at least I think it's
different.

Although I have not put the time and effort into studying it enough to
be very sure, what I have seen of the REST-like solutions you have
proposed or described to problems addressed by Web services indicates to
me that it COULD have been done that way and that it would have worked.
In fact, it's even possible that it would have worked better and that it
would have been better had it been done that way.  I don't really know
that this is the case, but I think it's possible it might be.  I also
think it's utterly irrelevant.  What's done is done, and the world ain't
goin that way.  In hindsight there are many, many places in the way all
sorts of things have developed in the world that might have been done
better or more directly.  The progress of human affairs is imperfect at
best.  I personally participate in those imperfections.

-----Original Message-----
From: www-ws-arch-request@w3.org [mailto:www-ws-arch-request@w3.org] On
Behalf Of Mark Baker
Sent: Thursday, January 29, 2004 2:27 PM
To: www-ws-arch@w3.org
Subject: REST wrap-up (was Re: Web Services Architecture Document




I just wanted to say that I quite liked the REST/Web material that was
there, especially the comparison text.  It's not perfect, but good
enough to, I think, make many readers wonder why REST wasn't adopted as
a base style for Web services.  It would have been nice to have seen an
answer for *that* question; it used to be because REST was felt to
require humans in the loop, and while I know some still feel that way, I
wonder what the motivation is for others?  That it doesn't matter; that
regardless of technical merit, all one needs is widespread support? i.e.
that REST might have worked, but we're doing SOA now, so nah nah neeny
nah? 8-)  I'm seriously curious.

Now that the WG is no more (I assume, as the charter expired on Monday),
this is off the record, so feel free to let it all hang out.

Mark.

On Thu, Jan 29, 2004 at 12:34:49PM -0600, Cutler, Roger (RogerCutler)
wrote:
>  - Clarifies the architectural relationship between the Web and Web 
> services.
> 
>  - Clarifies the relationship between Web services and REST.

-- 
Mark Baker.   Ottawa, Ontario, CANADA.        http://www.markbaker.ca

Received on Friday, 30 January 2004 12:03:53 UTC