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CXF, Axis2, REST

Stefan Tilkov,

Sanjiva Weerawarana believes I’m wrong in considering CeltixFire’s REST support superior to Axis2’s:

The only addition is some Java5 annotations for indicating whether the operation should have a GET binding or a POST binding etc.. Definitely a nice way to do it but does that make a class into a resource? I think not.

Of course that doesn’t turn a class into a resource, but it’s a significant addition nonetheless. If you take a look at this example — always assuming I’m understanding it correctly —, what you get is meaningful resource URIs with mappings to methods according to HTTP verbs. While I’m not at all sure that something like CXF is needed to implement a RESTful solution, at least the external interface seems to look like what you’d end up with if you just used servlets.

If, for some unfathomable reason, you are still interested in this endless debate, a huge thread has emerged in the SOA discussion group over the weekend (here and here).