On: API Design Guide

[paulddraper]

Yes, but most people aren't making web browsers or similar.

Web browsers are extremely generalized: they display arbitrary HTML, submit arbitrary forms, download arbitrary images, download and run arbitrary JS/CSS.

Most APIs are intended for more specific uses than "all of HTML". Hypermedia is very useful for browsers, but I wouldn't extend that to say, my Imgur clone API.

[dragonwriter → paulddraper]

> Yes, but most people aren't making web browsers or similar.

The question is whether people are making APIs to be consumed by general purpose tools, not whether they are making general purpose tools.

But, yes, there's a quite valid argument that REST isn't always the right architectural style for an API.

Which isn't an excuse to use the term "REST" for things that aren't REST, which just confused the issue.

[paulddraper → dragonwriter]

Okay, either way. There aren't a lot of hypermedia-based clients.