HP ALM : Rest API vs OTA

Question

Is it possible to achieve all the functionality using REST API, which can be achieved using OTA. I do understand that there are examples given in both OTA and REST API Documentation, which is provided by HP. But I need to understand things in layman terms,as I am asked to do a feasibility study whether it is possible to so the same amount of work in REST as is possible in OTA.

I would be highly benefited if someone could provide me with the pros and cons of REST and OTA wrt the HP ALM.

Answer 1

Simple answer is that the REST API does not have all the functionality currently available in the OTA API. The REST API primarily focuses on simple CRUD operations of core entities in the client (CRUD = create, read, update, delete). You can compare the documentation for the two API's to see if you will be able to achieve everything you want with REST.

The main benefit of REST over OTA is that it does not require any client-side software to be installed/registered. You simply post HTML requests to a server and process the XML-formatted results. This opens the API to more clients than ever before.

The main benefit of OTA over REST is that it exposes more ALM functionality. For those programming in an environment that easily supports COM objects, you may also find the object-based nature of the API easier to work with, especially if your editor provides rich IntelliSense.

Basically OTA is the API of the past, and REST is the API of the future. It will just take time before HP can get all the functionality exposed via REST.