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。

Web服务本质上是网站，其内容是由计算机程序而不是人消费的。REST是一套体系结构原则，它规定web服务应该最大限度地利用HTTP和其他web标准，以便程序获得人们已经可以从web中获得的所有好东西。REST经常与SOAP web服务和其他面向“远程过程调用”的web服务进行对比。

Stefan Tilkov在Parleys.com上关于REST的演讲非常棒，尤其是这个。

理查德森和Ruby的《Restful Web Services》是最好的一本书。

REST(表示状态传输)是一种用于创建WebServices的体系结构。

and

RESTful是一种使用REST体系结构编写服务的方式。RESTful服务公开资源，以识别与客户机交互的目标。

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。

“REST”是一种体系结构范式。“RESTful”描述了使用该范例。

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.