Enthuware

Stateless
The client–server communication is further constrained by no client context being stored on the server between requests. Each request from any client contains all of the information necessary to service the request, and session state is held in the client. Important to note is that the session state can be transferred by the server to another service such as a database to maintain a persistent state for a period of time and allow authentication. The client begins sending requests when it is ready to make the transition to a new state. While one or more requests are outstanding, the client is considered to be in transition. The representation of each application state contains links that may be used the next time the client chooses to initiate a new state-transition.

The client begins sending requests when it is ready to make the transition to a new state

While one or more requests are outstanding, the client is considered to be in transition

The name “Representational State Transfer” is intended to evoke an image of how a well-designed Web application behaves: a network of Web pages forms a virtual state machine, allowing a user to progress through the application by selecting a link or submitting a short data-entry form, with each action resulting in a transition to the next state of the application by transferring a representation of that state to the user.