HttpServletRequest - API REST

Question

this is a very noob question. I have a project to do that exemplifies the use of RESTFUL APIs. I am using java spring + MySQL and JSPs for front-end. My question is this. Does HttpServletRequest use REST ? For example, I have one controller with this method in it:

  @RequestMapping(value = "/list_events", method = RequestMethod.GET)
public String navigateToEventList(HttpServletRequest request){

    request.setAttribute("events",eventService.getAll());
    return "listevents";
}

I have the controller class annotated with @Controller . If I swap it to @RestController , it stops working. So, am I using rest in this method for example? And if not, what should I use?

And in my jsp file this is what I have for example:

 <c:forEach var="event" items="${events}">

        <tr>

            <td>${event.id}</td>
            <td>${event.title}</td>
            <td>${event.description}</td>
            <td>${event.type}</td>
            <td>${event.date}</td>
            <td>${event.location}</td>

        </tr>
    </c:forEach>

Answer 1

JSP is used when the client needs to display the contents in HTML (web-browser). RESTful web-services used when the client is some other application accepting data responses (it maybe the JavaScript in browser or some other application).

I have the controller class adnotated with @Controller. If I swap it to @RestController, it stops working.

If you swap it to @RestController the response intended to be JSON, or XML. You can achieve the same result with annotation @Controller your calss and @ResponseBody on each of the methods (if you need mix of REST and non-REST responses).

What you're doing now is returning the HTML/JSP page to your browser, and it's not a RESTful web-service - it's the first case I described above.

Does HttpServletRequest use REST?

REST means Representational state transfer , and it's architectural style of the application. HttpServletRequest it's just a requested body from current API. It can be used as either in RESTful or in non-RESTful servces.