RESTful Java Web Services - Third Edition

Description and Discovery of RESTful Web Services

In the earlier days, many software solution providers did not really pay enough attention to documenting their RESTful web APIs, unlike web services, which used Web Services Description Language (WSDL). However, many API vendors soon realized the need for a good API documentation solution in order to accelerate the adoption of their REST API services by customers, and to make it easier for businesses to understand the capabilities of the REST API. As a result, many REST API metadata standards have emerged in the recent past.

Today, you will find a variety of approaches to documenting RESTful web APIs. This chapter describes some of the popular solutions available today for describing, producing, ...