Comment by _heimdall
3 days ago
You realize that anyone using a browser to view HTML is using HATEOS, right? You could probably argue whether SPAs fit the bill, but for sure any server rendered or static site is using HATEOS.
The point isn't that clients must have absolutely no prior knowledge of the server, its that clients shouldn't have to have complete knowledge of the server.
We've grown used to that approach because most of us have been building tightly coupled apps where the frontend knows exactly how the backend works, but that isn't the only way to build a website or web app.
HATEOAS is anything that serves the talking point now apparently
For a traditional web application, HATEOS is that. HTML as the engine of application state: the application state is whatever the server returns, and we can assess the application state at any time by using our eyeballs to view the HTML. For these applications, HTML is not just a presentation layer, it is the data.
The application is then auto-discoverable. We have links to new endpoints, URLs, that progress or modify the application state. Humans can navigate these, yes, but other programs, like crawlers, can as well.
What do you mean? Both HATEOAS and REST have clear definitions.
Can you be more specific? What exactly is the partial knowledge? And how is that different from non-conforming APIs?
Not totally sure I understand your question, sorry if I don't quite answer it here.
With REST you need to know a few things like how to find and parse the initial content. I need a browser that can go from a URL to rendered HTML, for example. I don't need to know anything about what content is available beyond that though, the HTML defines what actions I can take and what other pages I can visit.
RPC APIs are the opposite. I still need to know how to find and parse the response, but I need to deeply understand how those APIs are structured and what I can do. I need to know schemas for the API responses, I need to know what other APIs are available, I need to know how those APIs relate and how to handle errors, etc.