REST HATEOAS Debate

Comments debate the true meaning of REST APIs, criticizing the common 'HTTP + JSON' interpretation and emphasizing hypermedia, HATEOAS, and Roy Fielding's original constraints from his dissertation.

➡️ Stable 0.6x Web Development
5,672
Comments
20
Years Active
5
Top Authors
#4326
Topic ID

Activity Over Time

2007
8
2008
88
2009
89
2010
196
2011
307
2012
597
2013
454
2014
332
2015
472
2016
270
2017
438
2018
269
2019
194
2020
267
2021
352
2022
392
2023
344
2024
133
2025
464
2026
6

Keywords

e.g HAL HATEOAS RPC IMO XML SQL GET POST OTOH rest http restful api urls apis json crud url 42

Sample Comments

mark_and_sweep Jul 29, 2022 View on HN

REST is missing. Should be about hypermedia. Now means JSON API.See: https://roy.gbiv.com/untangled/2008/rest-apis-must-be-hypert...

NanoWar Dec 4, 2012 View on HN

How does he talk about REST and totally forget about HATEOAS...

cryptos Dec 11, 2013 View on HN

"REST = HTTP + JSON" is absolute nonsense!

osigurdson Apr 23, 2023 View on HN

I think true REST APIs should be called a HATEOS APIs these days to disambiguate. REST just means GET/POST json at this point.

incrudible Mar 12, 2022 View on HN

This answer is correct, but lacks context. REST wasn't conceived with APIs in mind. In fact, it's an awful fit for APIs, as many of the other comments point out. Rather, REST today is a buzzword that took on a life of its own, bearing only superficial resemblance to the original ideas.HATEOAS is a generalization of how something like a website would let a client navigate resources (through hyperlinks). It requires an intelligent agent (the user) to make sense. Without HATEOAS

protonfish Nov 17, 2014 View on HN

I must disagree. REST is defined by four interface constraints: http://www.ics.uci.edu/~fielding/pubs/dissertation/rest_arch... and identification of resources is the first principle. This functionality is implemented by URLs in HTTP and is therefore critical. HATEOAS (the 4th principle) also seems to be gravely misunderstood. It only means that the API shou

nesarkvechnep Aug 10, 2023 View on HN

Are we talking about REST with HATEOAS? If we are, it’s apples to oranges.

yenwel Dec 22, 2018 View on HN

this guy agrees with you https://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/201x/2018/11/18/Post-REST

KevBurnsJr Aug 22, 2011 View on HN

This is an HTTP API, not a REST API.http://roy.gbiv.com/untangled/2008/rest-apis-must-be-hyperte...

treve Oct 29, 2017 View on HN

It's not really REST if there's no link in sight. Why not just call it a HTTP API or a Webservice?