Restful Web Services

Restful
web
services
By
Angelin

Widely Well-known “Words”
 Internet
 Massive network of networks, connecting millions of computers
together globally.
 Information communication using protocols like HTTP, SMTP,
FTP etc

 World Wide Web, or simply Web
 A way of accessing information over the Internet using HTTP.

World Wide Web
 The Web as defined by Tim Berners-Lee consists of three elements:
 URI (Uniform Resource Identifier) - The way of uniquely
identifying resources on the network.
 HTML (HyperText Markup Language) - The content format of
resources to be returned.
 HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) - The protocol used to
request a resource from the network and respond to requests.

 HTTP methods
All client server communication on the World Wide Web are
done using the following simple HTTP methods:
 GET = "give me some info" (Retrieve)
 POST = "here's some info to update” (Update)
 PUT = "here's some new info" (Create)
 DELETE = "delete some info" (Delete)

Retrieving Information using HTTP GET
Client Request
HTTP GET / HTTP/1.1
Header Host: http://www.amazon.com

Amazon
HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Server: Microsoft-IIS/5.1
Web
Content-Type: text/html; charset=utf-8 Server
Content-Length: 8307
<html>
<head>
...

Server Response
 The user types http://www.amazon.com in his browser.
 The browser software creates and sends a HTTP request with a
header that holds:
 The desired action: GET ("get me resource")
 The target machine (www.amazon.com)
 The server responds with the requested resource which is rendered
on the browser

Updating Information using HTTP POST
Client Request
HTTP POST / HTTP/1.1
Header Host: http://www.amazon.com

Payload Book: Da Vince Code
(Form Data) Credit Card: Visa
Number: 123-45-6789
Expiry: 12-04-06 Amazon
HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Web
Server: Microsoft-IIS/5.1 Server
Content-Type: text/html; charset=utf-8
Content-Length: 8307
<html>
<body>Your order has been placed successfully!</body>
</html>

Server Response
 The user fills in a form on the Web page and submits it.
 The browser software creates and send a HTTP request with a header and a
payload comprising of the form data.
 The HTTP header identifies:
• The desired action: POST
• The target machine (amazon.com)
 The payload contains:
• The data being POSTed (the form data)
 The server responds with the requested resource which is rendered on the
browser

Widely Well-known “Words” (Contd..)
 Web Application
 Usually a collection of dynamic web pages
 Usually restricted to the intranet
 Can be implemented as desktop application
 Information accessible using front end user interfaces
 Accessed by authorised users only
 Web Site
 Collection of static and dynamic web pages
 Available on the internet, or an organization's intranet
 Cannot be implemented as desktop application
 Information accessible using front end user interfaces
 Accessed by anybody

Widely Well-known “Words” (Contd..)
 Web Service
 Application run by a web server, performing tasks and
returning structured data to a calling program, rather
than html for a browser.
 Only “provides” information; does not “present”
information
 Publicly available and standardized for use by all
programmers
 Web Server
 Software designed to serve web pages/web sites/web
services. Examples are IIS, Apache, etc.

Web Services
 Services (usually some combination of program and data) that
are made available from a Web server for access by Web users
or other Web-connected programs.

 Specific business functionality exposed by a company, usually
through an Internet connection, for the purpose of providing a
way for another company or software program to use the
service.

 Types of Web Services:

Types of Web services
 Service-Oriented Web Services

 Based on “services”

 One service offers multiple functionalities

 “Big” Web Services

 JAX-WS = JAVA-API for XML-based Web Services, mainly using
WSDL/SOAP

 Resource-Oriented Web Services

 Based on “resources”

 Resource - any directly accessible and distinguishable distributed
component available on the network.

 RESTful Web Services

 JAX-RS = JAVA-API for RESTful Web Services, using only HTTP

Service Oriented Web Services - Architecture

 SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol)
 WSDL (Web Services Definition Language)
 UDDI (Universal Discovery, Description and Integration)

Resource Oriented Web Services - Architecture

Videos

Images

Text

 Resources

 Every distinguishable entity is a resource.

 A resource may be a Web site, an HTML page, an XML document, a
Web service, an image, a video etc.
CRUD HTTP Method
 URIs - Every resource is uniquely identified by a Create PUT or POST
URI. Read GET, HEAD or OPTIONS

Update PUT
 Resource lifecycle management using HTTP
methods Delete DELETE

SOAP Web Service Vs RESTful Web Service
SOAP

IBM

1234.5

SOAP Request SOAP Response
<?xml version="1.0"?> <?xml version="1.0"?>
<soap:Envelope <soap:Envelope
xmlns:soap="http://www.w3.org/2001/12/soap- xmlns:soap="http://www.w3.org/2001/12/soap-
envelope" envelope"
soap:encodingStyle="http://www.w3.org/2001/12/soap soap:encodingStyle="http://www.w3.org/2001/12/soap
-encoding"> -encoding">
<soap:Body <soap:Body
xmlns:m="http://www.example.org/stock"> xmlns:m="http://www.example.org/stock">
<m:GetStockPrice> <m:GetStockPriceResponse>
<m:StockName>IBM</m:StockName> <m:Price>1234.5</m:Price>
</m:GetStockPrice> </m:GetStockPriceResponse>
</soap:Body> </soap:Body>
</soap:Envelope> </soap:Envelope>

SOAP Web Service Vs RESTful Web Service
REST

IBM

http://www.example.org/stock?name=IBM

<?xml version="1.0"?> 1234.5
<stock>
<name>IBM</name>
<price>1234.5</price>
</stock>

REST – HTTP Request REST – XML Response
http://www.example.org/stock?name=IBM <?xml version="1.0"?> <stock>
<name>IBM</name>
<price>1234.5</price>
</stock>

SOAP Vs REST

Vs

 SOAP based web services
 Verbose => heavy payload
 Suitable for enterprise web services where you need
interoperability, transactions, message delivery and reliability.
 RESTful web services
 Not verbose => needs less bandwidth
 Good to use for the mobile applications.

REST
 REST = REpresentational State Transfer

 Architectural style in which clients and servers
exchange representations of resources by using a
standardized interface and protocol.

 Principles of REST:

 Addressability (URI)
 Interface Uniformity (HTTP)
 Statelessness (HTTP)
 Connectedness (Hypermedia)

Why is it called "Representational State Transfer?"

http://www.boeing.com/aircraft/747

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<aircraft>
<model>747</model>
<mfgYr>2000</mfgYr>
</aircraft>


http://www.boeing.com/aircraft/747/maintenanceSchedule

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<aircraft>
<model>747</model>
<mfgYr>2000</mfgYr>
<lastMntc>02-02-02<lastMntc>
<nextMntc>12-12-12<nextMntc>
</aircraft>

1. The Client references a Web resource using a URL.

2. A representation of the resource is returned.

3. The representation (e.g., Boeing747.html) places the client in a new
state.

4. When the client selects a hyperlink in Boeing747.html, it accesses
another resource.

5. The new representation places the client application into yet
another state.

6. Thus, the client application transfers state with each resource
representation.

Roy T. Fielding http://roy.gbiv.com

Building a Web Service
 Building blocks of a web service:
Input(s)

Data retrieval and processing function

Output(s)

Access path

Access method

RESTful Web Services
 Web Services (data, functionality on server side) implemented using
HTTP + REST principles

 Key elements of RESTful Web service are:

 The URI (path) of the Web Service
 The HTTP method supported by the web service.
 The MIME type of the request and response data supported by it.

JAX-RS
 Java API for RESTful Web Services

 Maintained through Java Specification Request –
JSR311

 Has a set of annotations and associated classes and
interfaces which simplify development of RESTful Web
Services.

 Supports multiple data formats (JSON / XML / HTML /
TEXT)

JAX-RS Implementations
 Jersey

 Restlet

 JBoss RESTEasy

 Apache CXF

 Triaxrs

 Apache Wink

 eXo

Important JAX-RS Annotations
Aspect Annotation Scope Description
Sets the path to base URL + /resource_path.
@PATH
Class, The base URL is based on your application name,
URI (resource_pa
Method the servlet and the URL pattern from the
th)
web.xml" configuration file.
Resource Method Indicates that the method annotated with it will
@POST Method
Designators answer to a HTTP POST request
Indicates that the method annotated with it will
Rules: @GET Method
answer to a HTTP GET request
1) Only one JAX-RS Indicates that the method annotated with it will
method designation @PUT Method
answer to a HTTP PUT request
annotation is allowed
per method in a Java
class resource. Indicates that the method annotated with it will
2) Only public methods @DELETE Method
answer to a HTTP DELETE request
may be exposed as
resource methods
@Produces(
Class, @Produces defines which MIME type is returned
MediaType [,
Method by the resource.
more-types ])
MIME type
@Consumes(
Class, @Consumes defines which MIME type is
MediaType [,
Method consumed by this resource.
more-types ])

Configuring Jersey
1. Include the following Jar files in the web project's library:
jersey-core.jar, jersey-server.jar, jsr311-api.jar, asm.jar and jersey-
client.jar

2. Register Jersey as the servlet dispatcher for REST requests in the project’s
web.xml.

<servlet>
<servlet-name>ServletAdaptor</servlet-name>
<servlet-class> com.sun.jersey.spi.container.servlet.ServletContainer
</servlet-class>
<load-on-startup>1</load-on-startup>
</servlet>
<servlet-mapping>
<servlet-name>ServletAdaptor</servlet-name>
<url-pattern>/rs/*</url-pattern>
</servlet-mapping>

RESTful - Resources
 With JAX-RS,

Annotated POJOs = RESTful Web Services a.k.a
Resources.

 Root Resource = POJO (Plain Old Java Object)
annotated with @Path.

 Sub Resources = Methods within the Root POJO
Resource

Sample RESTful Web Service
package com.example;

import javax.ws.rs.GET;
import javax.ws.rs.Path;
import javax.ws.rs.POST;
import javax.ws.rs.QueryParam;
import javax.ws.rs.core.MultivaluedMap;

@Path("/customers")
public class Customers {
Client Request
// Get all customer details
GET / HTTP/1.1
@GET Host:
public String getAllCustomers() { http://localhost:8081/TestRestfulService/rs/
return "list of customers"; customers
}

// Manage customer details
@POST
public void manageCustomers(@QueryParam("method") String method, MultivaluedMap<String,
String> formParams) {
if (method.equals("create")) { Client Request
//create new customer
POST / HTTP/1.1
} else if (method.equals("update")) { Host:
// update an existing customer http://localhost:8081/TestRestfulService/rs/
} else if (method.equals("delete")) { customers?method=create
// delete a customer
} Id: 12345
Name: John
}
}

Accessing resources using @Path
 Root Resource

@Path("/employeeinfo")
public class EmployeeInfo {
…….
}

 Root Resource Path

Syntax:
http://your_domain:port/display-name/url-
pattern/path_from_rest_class
Example:
http://localhost:8081/TestRestfulService/rs/employeeInfo

Accessing resources using @Path
 An @Path value is not required to have leading or trailing slashes (/)

@Path(”/product/") = @Path(”/product”) = @Path("product”) =
@Path(”product/”)

 Automatic encoding

@Path("product list") = @Path("product%20list”)

 URL Pattern and path template

@Path("users/{username: [a-zA-Z][a-zA-Z_0-9]*}")

RESTful – Resources (Optional @Path sample)

import javax.ws.rs.FormParam;

@Path("/customers")
Client Request
// Get all customer details GET / HTTP/1.1
@GET Host:
}

// Create a customer Client Request
@POST POST / HTTP/1.1
public void createCustomer( Host:
@FormParam("Id") int id, http://localhost:8081/TestRestfulService/rs/
@FormParam("Name") String name) { customers
//create new customer Id: 12345
} Name: John
}

RESTful–Resources(Mandatory @Path sample)

import javax.ws.rs.PathParam;

@Path("/customers")
public class Customers { Client Request
GET / HTTP/1.1
// Get all customer details Host:
@GET http://localhost:8081/TestRestfulService/rs/
public String getAllCustomers() { customers
return "list of customers";
}

Client Request
// Get specific customer details GET / HTTP/1.1
@GET Host:
@Path("{id}") http://localhost:8081/TestRestfulService/rs/
public String getCustomer(@PathParam("id”) customers/1234
String id) {
return "particular customer";
}

}

Hierarchical matching using @Path

import com.thoughtworks.xstream.XStream;

@Path("/customers")
public class Customers{ Client Request
GET / HTTP/1.1
@GET Host:
}

@GET
Client Request
@Path("/{id}")
public String getCustomer(@PathParam("id") int id) { GET / HTTP/1.1
Host:
XStream xstream = new XStream();
http://localhost:8081/TestRestfulService/rs/
Customer customer = new Customer(id);
customers/1234
return xstream.toXml(customer);
}

@GET Client Request
@Path("/{id}/address") GET / HTTP/1.1
public String getAddress(@PathParam("id") int id) { Host:
Customer customer = new Customer(id); http://localhost:8081/TestRestfulService/rs/
return customer.getAddress(); customers/1234/address
}
}

RESTful – Sub Resources
 Sub Resource Methods
 POJO Methods annotated with a “resource method designator”
annotation and with @Path annotation.
 Handles the HTTP request directly.
 @Path is optional for a sub resource method under the following
conditions:
 If no. of methods per HTTP action = 1, then @Path is optional
 If no. of methods per HTTP action > 1, then all methods or all but
one method should have @Path
 Sub Resource Locators
 POJO Methods annotated ONLY with @Path but NOT with any
“resource method designator” annotation.
 Returns an object of the Sub Resource Class that will handle the
HTTP request.

Examples of Sub Resources


@Path("/employeeinfo")
public class EmployeeInfo {

// Subresource locator: obtains the subresource Employee from
// the path /employeeinfo/employees/{fullName}
@Path("/employees /{fullName}")
public Employee getEmployee(@PathParam("fullName") String fullName) {
Employee emp = new Employee(fullName);
return emp;
}

// Subresource Method
@GET
@Path("/employees")
public String getAllEmployees() {
return "List of employees from sub resource method";
}
}

Examples of Sub Resources (contd..)


// Subresource class
public class Employee {

private String fullName;

public Employee(String fullName){
this.fullName = fullName;
}

// Subresource method: returns the employee's first name
@GET
@Path("/firstname")
public String getEmployeeFirstName() {
return fullName.substring(0, fullName.indexOf(" ")==-1? fullName.length(): fullName.indexOf(" "));
}

// Subresource method: returns the employee's last name
@GET
@Path("/lastname")
public String getEmployeeLastName() {
if(fullName.indexOf(" ")==-1){
return "No Last Name found";
} else {
return fullName.substring(fullName.indexOf(" ")+1);
}
}
}

Examples of Sub Resources (contd..)
 Request URL:
http://localhost:8080/TestRestfulService/rs/employeeinfo/employees

Output:
List of employees from sub resource method
 Request URL:
http://localhost:8080/TestRestfulService/rs/employeeinfo/employees/John/firstname

Output:
John
 Request URL:
http://localhost:8080/TestRestfulService/rs/employeeinfo/employees/John Doe/lastname

Output:
Doe
 Request URL:
http://localhost:8080/TestRestfulService/rs/employeeinfo/employees/John/lastname

Output:
No Last Name found

Extracting Request Parameters
Client Request Path Param:
POST / HTTP/1.1 http://localhost:8080/TestRestfulService/rs/customer/12345
HTTP Host: http://www.amazon.com
Cookie: x=56
Header Query Param:
User-Agent: Mozilla
http://localhost:8080/TestRestfulService/rs/employees?id=543
Book: Da Vince Code
Payload Credit Card: Visa
(Form Data) Number: 123-45-6789 Matrix Param:
http://localhost:8080/TestRestfulService/rs/employees;role=ITA

Supported HTTP
Annotation Description Data Source
Method
@QueryParam Extracts the value of a URI query parameter. URI GET, POST, PUT, or
DELETE
@PathParam Extracts the value of a URI template parameter. URI GET, POST, PUT, or
DELETE
@MatrixParam Extracts the value of a URI matrix parameter. URI GET, POST, PUT, or
DELETE
@HeaderParam Extracts the value of a HTTP header. Header of HTTP GET, POST, PUT, or
Request DELETE
@CookieParam Extracts information from cookies declared in the Header of HTTP GET, POST, PUT, or
cookie request header. Request DELETE

@FormParam Extracts information from a request representation Payload of HTTP Limited only to HTTP
whose content type is application/x-www-form- Request POST
urlencoded.

Extracting Request Parameters - Example

Annotation HTTP Request & URL Sample JAX-RS sample

@QueryParam URL with query params: public void foo(@QueryParam("x") int
http://<host_name>:<port>/<context_root>/<servlet_path>/ numberX)
MyService/URL?x=56

GET /MyService/URL?x=56 HTTP/1.1
@PathParam http://<host_name>:<port>/<context_root>/<servlet_path>/ @Path("URLPattern/{x}")
MyService/URLPattern/56 public void foo(@PathParam("x") int
numberX)
GET /MyService/URLPattern/56 HTTP/1.1
@MatrixParam URL with matrix params: public void foo(@MatrixParam("x") int
http://<host_name>:<port>/<context_root>/<servlet_path>/ numberX)
MyService/URL;x=56

GET /MyService/URL;x=56 HTTP/1.1
@HeaderParam GET /MyService/URL HTTP/1.1 public void foo(@HeaderParam("x") int
x: 56 numberX)
@CookieParam GET /MyService/URL HTTP/1.1 public void foo(@CookieParam("x") int
Cookie: x=56 numberX)

Extracting Request Parameters - Example

Annotation HTTP Request JAX-RS sample
Sample
@FormParam The form parameters and @POST
values are encoded in the
request message body @Consumes("application/x-www-form-urlencoded")
like the following:
public void post(@FormParam(“x") int numberX) {
POST /MyService/URL
HTTP/1.1 }
x=56
OR

@POST

@Consumes("application/x-www-form-urlencoded")

public void post(MultivaluedMap<String, String> formParams) {

}

Extracting Context Information - @Context
 To extract ServletConfig, ServletContext, HttpServletRequest and
HttpServletResponse from a Web application context

 Examples:
@GET
public String get(@Context UriInfo ui) {
MultivaluedMap<String, String> queryParams = ui.getQueryParameters();

MultivaluedMap<String, String> pathParams = ui.getPathParameters();

}

@GET
public String get(@Context HttpHeaders hh) {
MultivaluedMap<String, String> headerParams = hh.getRequestHeaders();

Map<String, Cookie> pathParams = hh.getCookies();

}

@DefaultValue
 Any failure to parse an input will result in the parameter being given whatever is
the default value for its type: false for boolean, zero for numbers, etc.

 This can be overridden by using @DefaultValue annotation and setting preferred
default value.

 This default value will be used whenever the expected input is missing – or when
it is present but parsing fails.

 The default value should be given as a String. It will be parsed to the appropriate
type of the method parameter.

Example:
public void foo(@DefaultValue(“123”) @QueryParam(“id") int id)

http://localhost:8081/TestRestfulService/rs/customer?id=56
 id = 56

http://localhost:8081/TestRestfulService/rs/customer
 id = 123

http://localhost:8081/TestRestfulService/rs/customer?id=ABC
 id = 123

Request Parameter – Data Types
 Both @QueryParam and @PathParam can be used only on the following
Java types:

 All primitive types except char

 All wrapper classes of primitive types except Character

 Any class with a constructor that accepts a single String argument

 Any class with the static method named valueOf(String) that accepts
a single String argument

 List<T>, Set<T>, or SortedSet<T>, where T matches the already
listed criteria.

 If @DefaultValue is not used in conjunction with @QueryParam, and the
query parameter is not present in the request, the value will be an empty
collection for List, Set, or SortedSet; null for other object types; and the
default for primitive types.

Entity Parameters
 A JAX-RS service method can define any number of parameters.

 All, or all but one, of those parameters must be annotated to inform
JAX-RS as to how to provide a value for it.

 The one not annotated, if present, is known as an entity, and is
implicitly bound to the request body. In other words, a non-annotated
parameter extracted from the request body is known as an entity.

 The JAX-RS specification does not permit more than one entity
parameter per method.

Entity Provider
 JAX-RS maps Java types to and from resource representations using entity
providers.

 JAX-RS entity providers help in the mapping between entities and
associated Java types.

 The two types of entity providers supported by JAX-RS are:

 MessageBodyReader: a class that is used to map an HTTP request
entity body to method parameters
 MessageBodyWriter: a class that is used to map the return value to
the HTTP response entity body.

 If a String value is used as the request entity parameter, the
MessageBodyReader entity provider deserializes the request body into a new
String.

 If a JAXB type is used as the return type on a resource method, the
MessageBodyWriter serializes the Java Architecture for XML Binding
(JAXB) object into the response body.

Entity Provider - Example
 For a resource method to return XML content, return an instance of a
JAXB class directly or return a javax.ws.rs.core.Response object with a JAXB
object as the response entity.

 Suppose that BookList is a JAXB class; for example:
@GET
@Produces("application/xml", "text/xml")
public BookList getBookList() {
BookList list = /* get a book list */
return list;
}

Or

@GET
@Produces("application/xml", "text/xml")
public javax.ws.rs.core.Response getBookList() {
BookList list = /* get a book list */
return Response.ok(list).build();
}

JAX-RS Method Return Types
 void, resulting in an HTTP 204 (no content) response
 String
 Response, a JAX-RS class that allows the programmer to provide response
content and other metadata, including HTTP headers
 GenericEntity, another JAX-RS type whose job it is to represent type-
parameter information for a generic entity type (think List<MyClass>) at
runtime
 A valid entity type – that is to say, any other Java class will be perceived as
an entity by JAX-RS and converted by the same mechanism used for entity
parameters
 A sub-resource method may return any of the following types – these then
have entity providers pre-registered for them:
 byte[]
 java.io.InputStream
 java.io.Reader
 java.io.File
 javax.ws.rs.ext.StreamingOutput
 javax.activation.DataSource

Summary
 Web Services
 Web Service types
 REST
 JAX-RS
 JAX-RS annotations
 Jersey
 Restful Web Services
 Root Resource
 Sub Resources
 Accessing resources
 HTTP methods
 Extracting request (input) parameters
 Response types (output)

Quiz
1. REST in RESTful Web Services stands for
a. Repetitive State Transfer
b. Representational State Transfer
c. Representational State Transformation
d. Representational Scope Transfer

2. Which of the following annotation indicates a method’s return data type?
a. @Accept
b. @Produces
c. @Consumes
d. @POST

3. Which of the following is true about the annotation @FormParam?
a. It can be used only for a POST Method’s
b. It can be used only for GET Method’s
c. It is used to retrieve the Query String in the URL of the HTTP
Service
d. Both B & C

Quiz
4. How do you specify a default value for a Query Param?
a. It is not possible to specify a default value for a Query param. It’s
always null.
b. @QueryParam("version") String version = “1”
c. @QueryParam("version") int version @DefaultValue("1")
d. @DefaultValue("1") @QueryParam("version") String version

5.
@XXX
@Path("/update")
@Produces("application/xml")
public String updateCustomer(@FormParam("data") String data)
{
...
}
Which method call will be replaced with XXX in the above code?
a. GET
b. POST
c. Both
d. None

Quiz
6.

@Path("/customers")

@GET
@Path("{id}")
public String getCustomer(@PathParam("id”) String id) { …… }

@POST
@Path("{id}")
public void deleteCustomer(@PathParam("id”) String id) { ….. }
}

Is this code correct? Will it compile and run?

Quiz - Answers
1. a
2. b
3. a
4. d
5. b
6. The code is correct and will compile. Though the paths of the sub
resource methods are same, their HTTP method differ and hence this
is a valid code.

Restful Web Services

More Related Content

What's hot (20)

Viewers also liked (20)

Similar to Restful Web Services (20)

More from Angelin R (17)

Recently uploaded (20)

Restful Web Services