First, for those of you sexy Web 2.0 Jockeys who could design a textbook REST API with your eyes closed and a pint of Johnny Walker coursing through your veins, I’ve provided a list of resources specifically about implementing REST services using WCF. There are also a few RESTish ASP.NET MVC links sprinkled in the mix, to add a little bit of flava.

Then, for REST neophytes such as myself, there are some resources to help you get your mind around the REST style itself, independent of WCF, which I highly recommend taking the time to do. Just as the use of SOAP Web Services does not magically transform your stinking rats nest of ad hoc, RPC style web services into a Service Oriented Architecture, simple use of XML or JSON over HTTP does not mean you are applying the REST architectural style. Not to imply that a stinking rats nest is bad, or that POX/JSON over HTTP is bad, it just isn’t necessarily RESTful.

None of the links presented here have much interest in the REST vs SOAP debate. There are trillions upon trillions of terabytes of available blather on REST vs SOAP and SOAP vs REST and Soapy REST vs Resting SOAP. If you want help deciding between the two, ask that scary looking guy in the corner there and he’ll show you to the REST vs SOAP room. Um, I would change out of the chaps first. Much better. (I will post one link though, to a podcast by Udi Dahan on the subject, because it is a pretty balanced discussion  and because it is sitting open in my browser and won’t cause me to do any extra typing. Fine, I lied, I’ll also link to an Information Week article about Web Oriented Architecture (WOA) and SOA that piqued my interest in the subject in the first place).

And now buckle up kids, here we go…

RESTful WCF

Zen of the Web Programming Model (Part 1) : Brain.Save()
Kirk Allen Evans’s Blog : Creating RESTful Services Using WCF
Kirk Allen Evans’s Blog : Creating a REST Twitter Client With WCF
More on RESTful Service with WCF and POX/POCO – Johan Danforth’s Blog

Ajax & RESTful WCF

Calling Web Services via AJAX – Part 1
Calling Web Services via AJAX – Part 2
jQuery AJAX calls to a WCF REST Service – Rick Strahl’s Web Log
WCF REST Configuration for ASP.NET AJAX and plain REST Services – Rick Strahl’s Web Log
CoDe Magazine – Article: REST-Based Ajax Services with WCF in .NET 3.5
Return JSON from a RESTful service

Speciality Topics

Dan Rigsby » REST Services and Metadata Endpoints in WCF
WCF, WebHttp Binding, and Authentication

Screencasts

InfoQ: Rob Windsor on WCF with REST, JSON and RSS

Not everyone’s experience with the REST support in WCF 3.5 has been like sucking sugar water from a humming-bird feeder though:

Using WCF for REST, Part 1, Part2 and Part 3. Make sure you read all the comments though, several of the gripes brought up in these posts have been addressed with SP1.

UriTemplate, UriTemplateTable
A must read reference document on MSDN describing in gory details how the UriTemplate works.

RESTful ASP.NET MVC

ASP.NET MVC: Using RESTful Architecture : Rob Conery
MS MVC: Simply Restful Routing | Adam Tybor’s Blog
Creating a RESTful POX Service using the ASP.NET MVC Framework [The .NET Addict's Blog]
Unifying Web "Sites" and Web Services with the ASP.NET MVC Framework | Aaron Lerch
ASP.NET MVC Tip #5 – Submitting an AJAX Form with jQuery – Mike Bosch’s Blog on .NET

This next one isn’t really about REST, but if you’re going to be creating a non-public REST API, you’re going to want to be using SSL as REST, not being a standard like SOAP, doesn’t have cool built-in encryption magic.

Steve Sanderson’s blog » Blog Archive » Adding HTTPS/SSL support to ASP.NET MVC routing

RESTful REST

RESTful Web Services | O’Reilly Media
This is a book by Sam Ruby and Leonard Richardson and is cited by just about every blogger that even has the word REST pop up their comments. And it was reviewed here. I have a copy on order, so I can’t tell you first hand how great it is, but I have read its praises many times today, so I am betting it is a very good place to start. As a bonus, the examples are mostly in Ruby – which I am ashamed to admin I’ve never actually learned to read, but maybe this is a perfect opportunity.

General RESTness
REST for the Rest of Us
REST for the Weary
Plain Old Stan: Understanding REST – a disgrace of Wikipedia definition

RESTful Services
RESTful Service – Ajax Patterns
Building Web Services the REST Way

RESTful API Design
Dustin R. Callaway – Design the REST API
Two Cardinal Sins of REST API Design: Lessons… from the NewsGator REST API
XML.com: How to Create a REST Protocol
Tarlog on Java: How to use SAML with REST Web Services