Which statement describes a RESTful system design characteristic?

Which statement describes a RESTful system design characteristic?

• A. Stateless; clients carry state between requests.
• B. Stateful; server maintains session context.
• C. Requires WebSockets for all updates.
• D. Uses binary Protocol Buffers by default.

Answer: (A)

Statelessness is what RESTful design emphasizes. In a REST system, the server does not retain any memory of previous requests. Each client request must include all the information the server needs to process it, including authentication and any state required for that operation. The client carries the session data between requests, often using tokens or credentials passed with each call. This approach makes servers easier to scale, because any server instance can handle any request without needing shared session memory, and it also supports caching and straightforward load balancing. Seeing the server maintain session context would violate REST’s stateless principle. Requiring WebSockets for updates isn’t a REST requirement—REST operates over HTTP and can use various patterns for updates, not specifically WebSockets. Using binary Protocol Buffers by default isn’t a REST mandate either; REST is transport-agnostic about payload formats and commonly uses JSON or XML, though other formats can be used if both ends agree.

Statelessness is what RESTful design emphasizes. In a REST system, the server does not retain any memory of previous requests. Each client request must include all the information the server needs to process it, including authentication and any state required for that operation. The client carries the session data between requests, often using tokens or credentials passed with each call. This approach makes servers easier to scale, because any server instance can handle any request without needing shared session memory, and it also supports caching and straightforward load balancing.

Seeing the server maintain session context would violate REST’s stateless principle. Requiring WebSockets for updates isn’t a REST requirement—REST operates over HTTP and can use various patterns for updates, not specifically WebSockets. Using binary Protocol Buffers by default isn’t a REST mandate either; REST is transport-agnostic about payload formats and commonly uses JSON or XML, though other formats can be used if both ends agree.