For SEOers; developers; testers; web developers; BA's and CIO's.
REST has some tremendous benefits, but it's message is clouded. It's a message that I feel needs to be partly understood, by more than just developers.
Narrative, seemed a good enough form (I would have preferred comics). I was inspired by Dan North and friends(Simon Stewart) story about a guy buying pants from a WS-* like shop vs. a RESTful shop and How I explained REST to my wife.
In this Four part series, I'll attempt to simplify the ideas behind presented by Roy and others from his dissertation for a wider audience.
- Part 1 - Online Experiences
- Part 2 - Physical (Offline) Experiences
- Part 3 - Summary
- Part 4 - Further Technical Detail
This is tough, I will necessarily loose details, but the intent is not to mislead, only to introduce some examples and benefits of adopting a RESTful style.
If you are an SEOer; developer; tester; web developer; BA or CIO who wants to know more about REST and what the benefits and pitfalls are, then Read On.
The Problem - Joe needs some new jeans
So there was this guy called Joe, he really needed some new pants, to go with his Jacket. He was pretty tired from the night before, so checked online for some jeans shops.
Following a Friends Recommendation
He finds a url in an email, someone sent him about jeans.
The link is to the home page of "Jeans R Us"
The link isn't to a particular type and style of jeans.
There was this this other large box, promising stylish new jeans experience, but he needed to install some new plugin called Adobe Flash.
Well what's a few more minutes..................
Once that was running eventually a cool flash movie with animation that let him change all those options and get a 3D view of the jeans.
But as he uses the system he can't use the browser back button, the application seems to have it's own back button.
He tries another tab, that also isn't working like normal web sites.
It really doesn't work the same way as most web sites, it all happens on the one page.
The url never changes and that's why he can't even bookmark his favourite jeans choice.
Although they have their own custom way of doing favourite jeans, but you have to create a profile.
The site is just frustrating, time to checkout Google instead.
Once more, with purpose
So after giving up on that site.
Google had a few results for him to check out.
The 1st organic search result for the "Le Small Fry Jeans" store, had a link to a business directory web site.
It had stylish, well designed page with a street address and an email address.
BUT THAT WAS ALL!!!
Hmmm, the trading hours given on the website were different to the trading hours on the directory web site.
I wonder which one is actually updated regularly?
Second times a treat
Back to Google search results.
One of the sponsored links, "Jeans Mega Store" had a fantastic website.
This site seems really responsive, only parts of the page are updated when he made a selection.
He could enter in his size; select a cut and style; while seeing what is currently popular; there were also promotions for new customers.
There was a lot of a attention to detail, including: - a simple page with Trading Hours - store locations in a google map embedded on their own page.
ARRGGGH!!
No Go - they have no stock, they only check after his credit card has been entered.
Well, screw that he says. He abandons the order.
This clearly won't do, Joe must have some new pants for tomorrow, or he may have to do some washing himself...
3rd times a charm
Back to Google search results.
The 2nd organic search result is for the "How Much Are Those Jeans in the Window" store, this one is styled purple, he has been there before. Well this store has been around for a while, it has a clean but simple interface, it is pretty fast.
The online html catalog has basic jean pictures, with a small number of options.
The online catalog in html also has links to a pdf catalog. That is great for offline viewing and formats nicely on the printer.
Hmm, he seems to remember going to this store once before, he bookmarked a link for a particular type of jeans.
He searches through his old bookmarks.
Hmm, "404 Page Not Found Error".
Well what does that mean, are the out of stock, is it no longer available or did they just revamp their website?
He only bought the last pair 3 months ago on the last washing day, they've probably just updated their website and now his old links don't work anymore.
Lets use the old faithful Back Button and continue.
After product selection and styles...
He clicks "Proceed with Order"; enters in all his customer details;
He is having doubts, will that be a good look?....
Just then the phone rings...
Distracted, he has a bit of breakfast, feeds the dog, gets back to his computer.
Has finally decided these are the right jeans for me.
He hits the "Buy" button....
The url looks like this: /order/1234?action=process&....
Foiled Again
He is rewarded with another Error Page. His session has expired, whatever that means. He hits refresh a few times, now it is asking him more questions, click ok; then give up.
Restarts his browser and goes back to the site.
Luckily the browser has history, they had a pretty long domain name, even if it was fairly easy to remember.
Ohh, something else is wrong. Part of the site is working, but every time he goes to do a search he gets some sort of "503 Server Error" now.
This online ordering, can be a real pain.
Stay Tuned
We leave Joe, staring at his terminal, pulling his hair out.
Join us next time for Joe goes Jean Shopping Part Two - In the Real World.
Confused: We haven't discussed REST at all yet, stay tuned for Part Two and Three, when we finally discuss how some of Joes experiences relate to a RESTful Architectural Style.
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