Overview of RESTful API Description Languages: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 11:40, 27 January 2023

Revision as of 13:45, 7 February 2023

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There are two previous major description languages: [[Web Services Description Language|WSDL2.0]] (Web Services Description Language) and [[Web Application Description Language|WADL]] (Web Application Description Language). Neither is widely adopted in the industry for describing RESTful APIs, citing poor human readability of both and WADL being actually unable to fully describe a RESTful API.<ref name="slideshare.net">{{Cite web|url=http://www.slideshare.net/SOA_Software/api-description-languages|title = API Description Languages|date = 12 August 2014}}</ref>

==AlternativesPrinciple==

===Hypertext-driven APIsAPI===

AnThe alternativeprinciple approach tobehind building RESTful APIs is known under the acronym HATEOAS ([[Hypermedia as the Engine of Application State]]). In this approach, the client software is not written to a static interface description shared through documentation. Instead, the client is given a set of entry points and the API is discovered dynamically through interaction with these endpoints. HATEOAS was introduced in [[Roy Fielding]]'s doctoral thesis ''Architectural Styles and the Design of Network-based Software Architectures''. HATEOAS hasis beenone of the original vision for RESTful APIskey whichelements distinguisheddistinguishing themREST from [[Remote Procedure Call|RPC]] mechanisms.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Fielding|first1=Roy|title=REST APIs must be hypertext-driven|url=http://roy.gbiv.com/untangled/2008/rest-apis-must-be-hypertext-driven|accessdate=4 November 2015}}</ref>

==List of RESTful API DLs==