[niftich]

Most things on the web are half-assed, and half-assed HTTP APIs enable rapid results (before the problems start).

REST is not fundamentally inappropriate, it just needs a lot of careful design about domain objects, link relations, and media types. Generally, people are not very good at thoughtful design.

It didn't help that REST began to trend as an idea right around the same time that intentionally schemaless JSON was replacing schema'd XML documents as the preferred way of over-web information interchange. For consumers, schemaless JSON snippets were attractive for partial processing; for developers, they were attractive for rapid iteration. For makers of "Web 2.0 Mashups", JSON-returning APIs were attractive because processing XML with circa-2006 "cross-browser" nightmare-mode Javascript was about as pleasurable as pulling teeth.

People saw these APIs being called REST, they tried to understand REST, got overwhelmed halfway through, called it REST-like or RESTful instead, and that's how we arrived at where we are.

During this time, RPC wasn't cool or buzzword-compliant, so the people who still RPC did it for good reasons and didn't really blog about it. The quip to consider RPC is nonetheless valid; stuff like gRPC or Thrift are at least proper RPC frameworks, and a much better idea than someone trying to ducktape something with GET and POST for the millionth time.

Luckily, soon, GraphQL will be the newest entrant in this space, and will have to contend an influx of superficially-informed people enticed by its promise. It may have a better track record than REST, because a partial implementation of GraphQL will better resemble GraphQL than a partial implementation of REST will resemble REST.

[infogulch]

It helps that GraphQL has an actual spec, protocol, and defined schema and is intended to be shipped as a separate microservice that just implements your schema according to the spec.

REST is more "hodge podge of concepts" that you can hack on and pollute and misunderstand at will.

I guess nothing will stop people from making Frankenstein schemas or poorly performing resolvers but at least the consumption is mostly uniform?

[BoorishBears]

Some people would rather take a hodge lodge of concepts over a hodge podge of implementations. HTTP clients have been done to death, GraphQL clients on the other hand...

[coldtea]

>REST is not fundamentally inappropriate, it just needs a lot of careful design about domain objects, link relations, and media types. Generally, people are not very good at thoughtful design.

Especially if it's not worth the effort.

[wtbob]

Generally, people are not very good at determining if thoughtful design is worth the effort.

Yes, waterfall was a mistake, but design-nothing is mistaken too. Thinking before doing helps avoid waste & rework.

[naasking]

Honestly, this should be a common part of web frameworks by now. It's a travesty that our industry hasn't developed a solid foundation for this kind of thing 16 years after it was published.

The best we've got on this mark is the Waterken server, which is pretty good, but not good enough.

[maxxxxx]

"Most things on the web are half-assed,"

That's my impression too.