resourceoriented

Resourceoriented refers to a design and architectural approach that treats resources as the central abstraction in a system. A resource is any identifiable, manipulable object such as a data item, document, device, or service. In a resource-oriented design, clients interact with resources rather than invoking actions directly on objects, and state is conveyed through resource representations.

In practice, resource-oriented design is closely associated with web APIs and RESTful concepts. Resources are identified by stable, unique addresses (often URIs) and are manipulated using uniform interfaces. Clients retrieve representations of resources in formats such as JSON, XML, or HTML, and these representations carry the data needed to understand or modify the resource. State changes are conveyed through standard methods and messages rather than through bespoke function calls.

Key principles typically emphasize resource identification, representation-driven state, stateless interactions, and the use of standard protocols and methods. Hypermedia as the engine of application state (HATEOAS) is often cited as an optional guideline, where clients discover available actions through representations. Efficiency and scalability are supported by caching, content negotiation, and a separation between resource management and resource representation.

Benefits of resource-oriented design include looser coupling between clients and servers, clearer API boundaries, and easier evolution of services. It aligns with web-scale practices and microservice architectures, enabling interoperability across heterogeneous clients.

Criticisms note that the term is sometimes used loosely or interchangeably with REST, and not all resource-oriented designs fully adhere to REST constraints. When applied thoughtfully, it provides a practical framework for designing scalable, interoperable interfaces. See also REST, RESTful API, and resource-based architecture.