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by astrea 1117 days ago
I'm more amused by "A combined coffee/tea pot that is temporarily out of coffee should instead return 503 [Service Unavailable]".
1 comments

Kinda thought this should respond 404
A 404 would mean that the client should not expect to find coffee there at all, which in this case would actually be better replaced by 418. However, if coffee can be found, just not right now, then it's the server's fault, so a 5xx code is in order, and 503 fits the bill best.
Someone that actually knows proper HTTP semantics on HN? I'm positively surprised.