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Ask HN: Should a back end Engineer be able to answer what makes an API RESTful?

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Re: Ask HN: Should a back end Engineer be able to answer what makes an API RESTful?

#11

Post by CodingChef »

byoung2 wrote: post #6
CodingChef wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is understandable and I'm not a back end Engineer either. But I had an interview with a back end Engineer with like six years of experience. And I really thought that a simple question like this would make them feel at ease because they would know it right away.

What types of responses do you get?

- what do you mean? - CRUD? - GET, POST, PUT, DELETE

(Question marks are part of the answers, now with the third answer I'm usually fairly happy to begin with and I go into other questions, but that should be the bare minimum).

I've been asked this question as well when interviewing for a frontend position and I just mentioned a few key points and they were very happy about it. But if you're applying for a backend position shouldn't you know more?

Re: Ask HN: Should a back end Engineer be able to answer what makes an API RESTful?

#12

Post by flukus »

technion wrote: post #5

I've seen so many arguments over what is and isn't really REST, I could see this feeling like a minefield type question. I can see that making it hard to answer. Quick Google hits on the matter: https://api2cart.com/api-technology/what-rest-api-really-is https://www.infoq.com/news/2016/07/microsoft-rest-api/ https://stackoverflow.com/questions/3408191/is-the-twitter-a...

It's CORBA but with limited verbs.

Corba, soap, soa, micro services, rest, ejb's. It's amazing how many times the industry can reinvent RPCs.

Re: Ask HN: Should a back end Engineer be able to answer what makes an API RESTful?

#14

Post by jerryr »

CodingChef wrote: post #9
jerryr wrote: post #4

I'm an embedded hardware/software developer with only a lightweight exposure to web programming, and I feel that I could answer that question adequately. I'd be curious to hear the types of responses you're actually getting. I've had to do a lot of interviewing in my career and I've encountered "simple" questions that throw nervous candidates off of their game simply because of a misunderstanding. Sometimes the simpl…

Thanks for your great input! Multiple times the only answer I got was "CRUD", without any explanation. Which from a certain perspective it relates to REST but from an experienced engineer is expected a little more, nothing specific just anything really.

I think people in this thread are getting a little hung up on the fact that there might not be a clear-cut or widely-accepted definition of "REST". And, sure, if you're only passing people who happen to mention the exact keywords you have in mind, then I'd say your interviewing methodology is flawed.

But I don't think that's what you're doing. I think you're hoping to spark a conversation about what REST is and you've given us a few keywords here as examples of what you might expect to come up in this conversation. And this seems perfectly reasonable to me. I would expect that an engineer with relevant experience and an inkling of insightfulness and professional curiosity would be able to hold such a conversation.

Re: Ask HN: Should a back end Engineer be able to answer what makes an API RESTful?

#15

Post by ossm1db »

According to the person that invented the term "REST", APIs must be hypermedia driven. It goes without saying his definition should outweigh anyone else's. http://roy.gbiv.com/untangled/2008/rest-apis-must-be-hyperte...

Anyone that says CRUD or lists HTTP verbs is simply wrong. The term is often abused, and I find that rather disappointing.

Re: Ask HN: Should a back end Engineer be able to answer what makes an API RESTful?

#17

Post by CodingChef »

mankash666 wrote: post #16

No. Anything that can be gleaned from a wiki search, but adds little value to product delivery is useless. Maybe you can ask the benefits of statelessness, and if the candidates know get and put, which one they'd choose and why.

That's great input thank you, I like your approach much better and it still provides freedom in the answer.

Re: Ask HN: Should a back end Engineer be able to answer what makes an API RESTful?

#18

Post by CodingChef »

dragonwriter wrote: post #13

But, REST is a protocol agnostic architecture hat has nothing to do with HTTP verbs, so if your minimum standard is mentioning HTTP verbs, there's a problem...

I see your point. My intention is mostly to spark a conversation but I'm guessing this approach might not be the best. What would you think is a decent question that allows enough freedom in the answer? Unfortunately there's seems to be a lot of confusion about what an answer to my question should be like, not only in this thread but on the web in general. It almost feels like the definition of REST or its idea has been re formulated over the years from the original thesis work. Thanks again for your input!

Re: Ask HN: Should a back end Engineer be able to answer what makes an API RESTful?

#19

Post by CodingChef »

ossm1db wrote: post #15

According to the person that invented the term "REST", APIs must be hypermedia driven. It goes without saying his definition should outweigh anyone else's. http://roy.gbiv.com/untangled/2008/rest-apis-must-be-hyperte... Anyone that says CRUD or lists HTTP verbs is simply wrong. The term is often abused, and I find that rather disappointing.

Your disappointment is absolutely legitimate. I feel like this term has then be abused a lot, in many write ups as well. I guess from me too. Thanks for pointing it out, I'll make sure to use a different approach in the future that can lead to a better conversation with the interviewee.

Re: Ask HN: Should a back end Engineer be able to answer what makes an API RESTful?

#20

Post by dragonwriter »

CodingChef wrote: post #18
dragonwriter wrote: post #13

But, REST is a protocol agnostic architecture hat has nothing to do with HTTP verbs, so if your minimum standard is mentioning HTTP verbs, there's a problem...

I see your point. My intention is mostly to spark a conversation but I'm guessing this approach might not be the best. What would you think is a decent question that allows enough freedom in the answer? Unfortunately there's seems to be a lot of confusion about what an answer to my question should be like, not only in this thread but on the web in general. It almost feels like the definition of REST or its idea has b…

I don't think asking about REST is a bad question and it's definitely a good inroads to conversation; you should just be aware of both the original work and the variety of different understandings so that you can make good use of that conversation and recognize that skilled candidates are likely to have differing ideas about REST.
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