Appendix C. Introducing the REST architecture style
This appendix will give you a minimal REST background that will help you understand the main concepts at the core of the Restlet Framework. Understanding REST is key to using the Restlet Framework because it’s the official architecture style of the web and because the Restlet API is a direct mapping of REST and HTTP concepts to Java. We’ll also discuss the relationship between REST and HTTP, comparing it with the historical RPC-like alternatives such as SOAP.
Billions of people use the web in one form or another. Millions of developers create web applications. Yet only a small number of them have heard about REST, which defines the architectural style of the web. REST was created by Roy T. Fielding, the primary architect of HTTP 1.1, the backbone protocol of the web.
REST is the acronym for REpresentational State Transfer. It’s a set of principles that, when correctly applied, helps in building software architectures and applications that benefit from all the qualities of the web. Those qualities are numerous and include greater scalability, efficient network use, and independent evolution of clients and servers (also called loose coupling).