If you are designing and developing a new, highly scalable Web application, the REST approach is without question the best way to go, writes Eric Newcomer on SearchSOA.com. But, if you are working on an extension to an existing enterprise application, or on an integration project relying in whole or in part on existing infrastructure, the decision is a bit tougher. Newcomer suggests some ways of sorting out the issues. What are your thoughts on where REST works? http://searchsoa.techtarget.com/expert/KnowledgebaseAnswer/0,289625,sid26_cid1328059,00.html

When you're using Flex for the client side app. Trust me I've done it and it's ultra painful, Flex just doesn't do REST. Otherwise I'd say use REST if your service is resource based and fits the model. Ours does and it's mostly worked like a charm from the server-side...

Trust me, I wrote the book on how to make Flex talk to Rails manually, and RestfulX (http://restfulx.github.com/) is a vast improvement on that. Some features: caching, automatic marshalling and unmarshalling, talking to the local AIR SQLite database with the same code as the code which talks to Rails, etc. I find Flex development with RestfulX to be downright pleasant.

If you are designing and developing a new, highly scalable Web application, the REST approach is without question the best way to go.

I'm a little surprised that no one has contradicted this here. When I talked about REST in 2008, people looked at me like I had two heads. I still am finding that many people have no idea what it is.

I'm a little surprised that no one has contradicted this here.

Please go ahead! I suppose someone's got to do it!

I'm a little surprised that no one has contradicted this here.

Please go ahead! I suppose someone's got to do it!

I could play devil's advocate but I agree with you.