What exactly does REST mean? What is it, and why is it getting big now?

Question

I understand (I think) the basic idea behind RESTful-ness. Use HTTP methods semantically - GET gets, PUT puts, DELETE deletes, etc... Right? thought I understood

Answer 1

REST is an architecture where resources are defined and addressed.

To understand REST best, you should look at the Resource Oriented Architecture (ROA) which gives a set of guidelines for when actually implementing the REST architecture.

REST does not need to be over HTTP, but it is the most common. REST was first created by one of the creators of HTTP though.