2. REST as Lightweight Web Services

As a programming approach, REST is a lightweight alternative to Web Services and RPC.

Much like Web Services, a REST service is:

• Platform-independent (you don't care if the server is Unix, the client is a Mac, or anything else),
• Language-independent (C# can talk to Java, etc.),
• Standards-based (runs on top of HTTP), and
• Can easily be used in the presence of firewalls.

Like Web Services, REST offers no built-in security features, encryption, session management, QoS guarantees, etc. But also as with Web Services, these can be added by building on top of HTTP:

• For security, username/password tokens are often used.
• For encryption, REST can be used on top of HTTPS (secure sockets).
• ... etc.

One thing that is not part of a good REST design is cookies: The "ST" in "REST" stands for "State Transfer", and indeed, in a good REST design operations are self-contained, and each request carries with it (transfers) all the information (state) that the server needs in order to complete it.