[uf-rest] Fwd: [microformats-discuss] REX! Re: REST-discuss list, naming

[toydi]

Hi, yet another response to REX proposal. :)

(Just some random ideas..)

After a wide adoption of ATOM in communities, maybe there would be two
major different approaches in coming web apps implementation: 1)
Desktop or desktop-like (e.g XUL) client software as user interface;
2) AJAX-like (with HTML Form, XForms, scripting) web pages as user
interface.

In the first approach, we could see RESTful interaction and
well-crafted representation (e.g XML) will serve and optimize overall
client-sever communication.

In the second approach, heavy client-side scripting allows *ad-hoc*
authoring form creation (e.g Gmail?, TiddlyWiki?). By excuting some
scripts while you are browsing certain web pages, the scripts will
able to grab data in the page, create authoring form on-fly, and send
out HTTP requests for authoring purpose.

Well, where we will find microformats? I think, mostly in the second
approach? :-)

However, as we can see, there will be more web pages serve their
contents in some *alternative* versions (e.g XML, RDF, RSS, ATOM). In
the second approach, the scripts can always request for an
"alternative" version (mostly XML?) in order to construct authoring
forms.

A question is raised: Which is faster, easier for implementation? to
parse a microformated XHTML page, or parse an ATOM version of that
page? (It's really a question, I don't have any pre-answer in my mind
yet. ;-) )

What i see in microformats combining with REST is a potential of
on-fly authoring in web pages. A page as a combination of small pieces
of resource representations, each of them are well-formatted in
microformats. Using client-scripts, we can create ad-hoc forms and
edit each of them on-fly, and updated contents will be sending out to
the target resource's URL in a REST way (visual example? Maybe
something that *looks* like TiddlyWiki? ).

In that way, end-users can straight away correct any typo, rearrange
navigation menu, adding new entry, while they are browsing and viewing
a web page. No more admin section.. and by then, why do we need a
desktop-like client? :-)

Maybe, this is another potential direction for REX?

Cheers,
--
-toydi-