正如Jason在评论中所说，RESTful只是作为一个形容词，用来描述尊重REST约束的东西。

REST stands for representational state transfer. That means that state itself is not transferred but a mere representation of it is. The most common example is a pure HTML server based app (no javascript). The browser knows nothing about the application itself but through links and resources, the server is able transfer the state of the application to the browser. Where a button would normally change a state variable (e.g. page open) in a regular windows application, in the browser you have a link that represents such a state change.

这个想法就是使用超媒体。也许还能创造出新的超媒体类型。我们可以用javascript/AJAX扩展浏览器，并创建新的自定义超媒体类型。这样我们就有了一个真正的REST应用程序。

This is my short version of what REST stands for, the problem is that it is hard to implement. I personally say RESTful, when I want to make reference to the REST principles but I know I am not really implementing the whole concept of REST. We don't really say SOAPful, because you either use SOAP or not. I think most people don't do REST the way it was envisioned by it's creator Roy Fielding, we actually implement RESTful or RESTlike architectures. You can see his dissertation, and you will find the REST acronym but not the word RESTful.

从面向对象编程思想的角度来看，REST类似于要实现的接口，RESTfull服务类似于REST“接口”的实际实现。

REST只是定义了一组规则，说明它是REST api, RESTfull服务遵循这些规则。

上面的答案已经列出了大部分规则，但我知道一个重要的要求，在我的经验中经常被忽视，因为一个真正的REST api必须是超链接驱动的，除了所有HTTP PUT, POST, GET, DELETE爵士。

把REST看作一个体系结构“类”，而RESTful是该类的众所周知的“实例”。

请注意“”;这里我们不是在处理“真正的”编程对象。

REST是一种用于分布式软件的软件体系结构

遵循REST约束被称为“RESTful”。

如今，它被广泛用于构建web服务，作为SOAP的替代方案。

这里有一些链接需要检查

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Representational_State_Transfer http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/297424/Representational_State_Transfer_REST_ http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/webservices/library/ws-restful/

基于REST的服务称为“REST式服务”。

来源:多布斯博士档案