How should a random number generator properly be implemented in REST?
GET RANDOM/
or..
POST RANDOM/
The server returns a different random number each time.
I can see arguments for both ways.
+2
A:
Definitely GET. Even though it might modify server-side state (if it uses a pseudo-RNG), that's just an implementation detail the client shouldn't care about.
erikkallen
2010-06-06 21:19:59
A:
- definition of REST-call with GET: the result have to be the same -> not GET.
- definition of REST-call with PUT: the result of the call can be repeatable, the server should not have problem with it -> use PUT
POST is the weakest method and can used if other are not useful.
Why not GET: the result of GET-call can be cachet (cache-header, etag oder transparent proxies) and you dont will get random results ...
Christian Harms
2010-06-06 21:28:33
But you can disable the caching using appropriate headers.
erikkallen
2010-06-06 21:37:44
REST does not say that GET must always respond with the same response from the same URI. The response must represent the same resource, but the contents can change overtime.
Darrel Miller
2010-06-07 00:16:38
@Darrel: You are right. A GET-request dont modify the resource anyway, in the live time the reosource can changed!
Christian Harms
2010-08-15 16:21:47
+5
A:
I'd say this is the same as for a page returned that contains the current time - and many of these are done using GET. Abstractly, fetching a random number (or time) the server's state doesn't change - both time and random numbers can be described as an observation of an external event. E.g. http://random.org use atmospheric noise.
GET seems most appropriate, although caching will need to be disabled via appropriate headers, e.g.
Expires: <Current Time>
Last-Modified: <Current Time>
Cache-Control: no-cache, must-revalidate
Pragma: no-cache
If you want to ensure that the served content is already expired:
To mark a response as "already expired," an origin server sends an Expires date that is equal to the Date header value. (See the rules for expiration calculations in section 13.2.4.)
mdma
2010-06-06 21:57:11