A Model-Driven Approach for REST Compliant Services

The design of applications that comply to the REST architectural style requires observing a given set of architectural constraints. Following these constraints and therefore designing REST compliant applications is a non-trivial task often not fulfilled properly. There exist several approaches for the modeling and formal description of REST applications, but most of them do not pay any attention to how these approaches can support or even force REST compliance. In this paper we propose a model-driven approach for modeling REST services. We introduce a multi layered model which enables (partially) enforcing REST compliance by separating different concerns through separate models. We contribute a multi layered meta-model for REST applications, discuss the connection to REST compliance and show an implementation of our approach based on the proposed meta-model and method. As a result our approach provides a holistic method for the design and realization of REST applications exhibiting the desired level of compliance to the constraints of the REST architectural style.