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ReST stands for Representational State Transfer, an architectural style of communication primarily used in web applications and network services. In layman’s terms, it is a simple way of sending and receiving data between a client and a server. Many people may not know or understand the basic ideas behind Representational State Transfer in VMware Flings and other software. If you are interested in learning more about what ReST is and how it works, read below for an overview of the basics.
Not To Be Confused
When you usually hear the word representational, do you immediately think of ReST? Probably not. Representational art, like that of text animation, has an entirely different meaning than Representational in technology. The term representational in technology typically indicates that a network is ReSTful. This means that it follows the architectural constraints of a representational state transfer. Do not confuse the definition of representational art with the definition of representational in technology.
Another Type Of Representational
Representational Theories of Consciousness are another type of representational you may get confused with. However, representation has been central to discussions of intentions for years. In this theory, objects are just representational contents of existent states of affairs in conversational intelligence. Sounds a bit heavy right? It is. Representational State Transfer, the topic we are discussing, is much simpler to understand. Keep reading below.
Architectural Constraints
Architectural constraints are the standard by which networks and systems must be considered “ReSTful.” If the service violates any of these architectural constraints, it does not use the Representational State Transfer style. Representational State Transfer has six basic architectural constraints. These six constraints include: client-server, stateless, cacheable, layered system, obfuscated code on demand and uniform interface. If these requirements are met, the service may then be considered “ReSTful.” If you want to know more about Representational State Transfer, an excellent way to learn is by studying the architectural constraints. Once you understand the standards by which the style is measured, you will be ready to move on to more complex factors.
Components
Representational State Transfer requires a variety of components in order to operate correctly. Like any network, it requires origin servers and gateways. Additionally, it often involves mobile applications, social networking websites and mashup tools. With ReST enabled, the components communicate by transferring representations of the resource through the interface, rather than by operating on the resources themselves. Some of these components are gateways, proxies and user agents. This is an important concept to grasp if you hope to understand Representational State Transfer. The components that make up this architectural style are imperative to ReST’s successful operation.
Features
It is hard to understand what Representational State Transfer is if you do not know what it does. Thankfully, there are a few key features of Representational State Transfer that will be explained. First of all, ReST is platform-independent. This means that a service can operate on any kind of software, app platforms or devices. Additionally, Representational State Transfer is language-independent. It can communicate between different programming languages. These are some of the key features that make it a unique and important architectural style. If you can understand these basic features and services, you have grasped the main idea of Representational State Transfer.
Representational State Transfer Alternatives
Although Representational State Transfer is a popular and versatile architectural style, it is not the only one. There are several debates about the pros and cons of ReST versus Singe Object Access Protocol. SOAP is an alternative to Representational State Transfer. However, it is important to keep in mind that SOAP services are much harder to scale than ReST services. SOAP has been around longer than ReST. It is also much more efficient for enterprise environments. Despite this, Representational State Transfer continues to grow. If you are interested in understanding ReST, it is important to know about similar programs and services.
Representational State Transfer is an important architectural style to understand that is not unlike voice and data cabling. It is possible that you have been using it every day on mobile applications and social media sites without even realizing it. Thankfully, you can now see what Representational State Transfer really is. Now that you understand the basics, let us know in the comments what you think about ReST.
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