REST (Representational State Transfer) is a software architectural style that was created to guide the design and development of the architecture for the World Wide Web. REST defines a set of constraints for how the architecture of a distributed, Internet-scale hypermedia system, such as the Web, should behave. The REST architectural style emphasises uniform interfaces, independent deployment of components, the scalability of interactions between them, and creating a layered architecture to promote caching to reduce user-perceived latency, enforce security, and encapsulate legacy systems. REST has been employed throughout the software industry to create stateless, reliable web-based applications. An application that adheres to the REST architectural constraints may be informally described as RESTful, although this term is more commonly associated with the design of HTTP-based APIs and what are widely considered best practices regarding the "verbs" (HTTP methods) a resource responds to while having little to do with REST as originally formulated-and is often even at odds with the concept. The term representational state transfer was introduced and defined in 2000 by computer scientist Roy Fielding in his doctoral dissertation.

It means that a server will respond with the representation of a resource (today, it will most often be an HTML, XML or JSON document) and that resource will contain hypermedia links that can be followed to make the state of the system change. Any such request will in turn receive the representation of a resource, and so on. An important consequence is that the only identifier that needs to be known is the identifier of the first resource requested, and all other identifiers will be discovered. This means that those identifiers can change without the need to inform the client beforehand and that there can be only loose coupling between client and server. The Web began to enter everyday use in 1993-1994, when websites for general use started to become available. At the time, there was only a fragmented description of the Web's architecture, and there was pressure in the industry to agree on some standard for the Web interface protocols.

For instance, several experimental extensions had been added to the communication protocol (HTTP) to support proxies, and more extensions were being proposed, but there was a need for a formal Web architecture with which to evaluate the impact of these changes. The W3C and IETF working groups together started work on creating formal descriptions of the Web's three primary standards: URI, HTTP, and HTML. Roy Fielding was involved in the creation of these standards (specifically HTTP 1.0 and 1.1, and URI), and during the next six years he created the REST architectural style, testing its constraints on the Web's protocol standards and using it as a means to define architectural improvements - and to identify architectural mismatches. To create the REST architectural style, Fielding identified the requirements that apply when creating a world-wide network-based application, such as the need for a low entry barrier to enable global adoption. He also surveyed many existing architectural styles for network-based applications, identifying which features are shared with other styles, such as caching and client-server features, and those which are unique to REST, such as the concept of resources.

Fielding was trying to both categorise the existing architecture of the current implementation and identify which aspects should be considered central to the behavioural and performance requirements of the Web. By their nature, architectural styles are independent of any specific implementation, and while REST was created as part of the development of the Web standards, the implementation of the Web does not obey every constraint in the REST architectural style. Mismatches can occur due to ignorance or oversight, but the existence of the REST architectural style means that they can be identified before they become standardised. For example, Fielding identified the embedding of session information in URIs as a violation of the constraints of REST which can negatively affect shared caching and server scalability. HTTP cookies also violated REST constraints because they can become out of sync with the browser's application state, making them unreliable; they also contain opaque data that can be a concern for privacy and security.

Costway US $1438.00 72.5 Inch Modern Fabric Loveseat Sofa Couch with Adjustable Headrest Costway US $171.00 Swing Glider Chair 48 Inch Loveseat Rocker Lounge Backyard-Gray Costway US $241.00 2-Person Double Rocking Loveseat with Mesh Fabric and Center Tempered Glass Table-Gray Costway US $448.00 Patio Aluminum Loveseat Sofa Outdoor Furniture Set with Thick Back and Seat Cushions-Gray Costway US $236.00 Outdoor Loveseat Chair Set with Coffee Table and Seat Back Cushions-Navy Costway US $225.00 2-Person Double Rocking Loveseat with Mesh Fabric and Center Tempered Glass Table-Turquoise Costway US $225.00 2-Person Double Rocking Loveseat with Mesh Fabric and Center Tempered Glass Table-Brown Costway US $210.00 Outdoor Loveseat Chair Set with Tempered Glass Coffee Table Costway US $106.00 Oversized Camping Chair Folding Loveseat Camping Couch with Cup Holders & Thick Padding-Blue Costway US $236.00 2 Pieces Patio Loveseat Bench Table Furniture Set with Cushioned Chair-Beige