REST discrepancy between PUT and Resource.save()

[mmalecki]

Basically, basing on various REST resources (linked further down), we're not really doing it RESTfully.

PUT shouldn't be used for performing update operations (at least, not in the way resourceful does it - it merges updates with the existing document).

PUT to /creatures/someId should result in:

• creation of /creatures/someId if it doesn't exist, with data supplied in the request
• full replacement of /creatures/someId if it exists

I believe we could also use PATCH HTTP method for performing partial updates, but it introduces some risks related to concurrency.

Resources:

• http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3150203/how-should-i-update-a-rest-resource
• http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2309876/restful-services-and-update-operations
• http://jcalcote.wordpress.com/2008/10/16/put-or-post-the-rest-of-the-story/
• http://stackoverflow.com/questions/630453/put-vs-post-in-rest

[Marak]

Sounds right to me.

If you can make a branch with new test coverage that would cover any proposed changes, I can gladly make the core changes needed to implement your proposed API.