What is the best way to design a HTTP request when somewhat complex parameters are needed?

Question

I have some web services that I am writing and I am trying to be as RESTful as possible. I am hosting these web services using a HTTPHandler running inside of IIS/ASP.NET/S

Answer 1

You should place the parameters in the query string, using an HTTP GET request. Limits in some older web browsers are not a concern, because the only people browsing through an API in a web browser are likely to be developers (or at least technical).

Remember that client applications should not be manipulating the URLs your API provides them. URLs are opaque identifiers to the clients, used only for directing them to where particular resources may be found.

If this is not possible for whatever reason, I would use a POST request with the parameters form-encoded into the body. It won't be entirely RESTful, but assuming your resources are designed properly the impact on client code should be minimal.