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I'll admit that this is the 1st time that I've heard of REST as such, but the data-centric vs. API centric 'debate' has been going on for a long long time. Fact is, you need both. REST by itself does not make a system. Sure it's a good idea to have self-naming data and simple standardized access methods. This is the core of triumph of relational database (SQL).
Extending the data model to the network with XML makes a lot of sense. But to think of this as a system solution is naive. First off, just as databases change (adding columns, the meaning of existing columns evolves, ...) XML definitions (DTDs and semantics) will also be evolving living things. The tower of Babel may be better documented, but it keeps growing. In this regard REST has nothing over SOAP.
Secondly, and more fundamentally, at some point action needs to be taken. Action requires agreed upon sematics. And action is frequently more than insert this file, access that one. The database world partly addressed this via triggers. But the real solution has proven to be application servers with very complex semantics; real life is complex, sorry.
Pretty crucial that both the data and the action be clearly defined and agreed on. So, again, if systems are to work together, what is it that REST is really helping?
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