RESTful Java Web Services - Third Edition

RFC 5988 - web linking

RFC 5988 offers a framework for building links that define the relation between resources on the web. Although this specification defines the properties for the links, it does not define how the links as a whole should be represented in an HTTP message. However, it defines the guidelines for specifying the Link HTTP header. The syntax set for links in the HTTP headers in this specification may supplement the JSON resources as well. Each link in RFC 5988 may contain the following properties:

• Target URI: Each link should contain a target Internationalized Resource Identifier (IRI). This property is represented by the href attribute. In case you are not familiar with IRIs, they are not the same as URIs in a function. ...