There is a subtle conceptual ambiguity when people say “relative URI”. By RFC3986’s definition, a generic URI contains: URI = scheme “:” hier-part [ “?” query ] [ “#” fragment ] hier-part = “//” authority path-abempty / path-absolute / path-rootless / path-empty foo://example.com:8042/over/there?name=ferret#nose \_/ \______________/\_________/ \_________/ \__/ | | | | | scheme authority path … Read more
I think your explanation mostly covers it. URIs are opaque identifiers that should, for the most part, not be communicated beyond the bookmark URI that is used by the user agent to access the app. As for documenting, this question has been done quite a few times. You document your media type, together with the … Read more
Its not an implementation in the sense of running code, but I really like the article “How to GET a cup of coffee” on InfoQ. It describes the process of ordering a coffee at Starbucks as a RESTful protocol. This goes beyond the typical “everything is a resource” REST introductory article and focuses on HATEOAS. … Read more
Nobody in the REST community says REST is easy. HATEOAS is just one of the aspects that adds difficulty to a REST architecture. People don’t do HATEOAS for all the reasons you suggest: it’s difficult. It adds complexity to both the server-side and the client (if you actually want to benefit from it). HOWEVER, billions … Read more
Why you should use DTOs in your REST API DTO stands for Data Transfer Object. This pattern was created with a very well defined purpose: transfer data to remote interfaces, just like web services. This pattern fits very well in a REST API and DTOs will give you more flexibility in the long run. The … Read more