[XML-DEV Mailing List Archive Home] [By Thread] [By Date] [Recent Entries] [Reply To This Message] Re: Best Practice for URI construction?
Yes, avoiding querystrings when you want the deferenced item to be accessed by bots, or when the item should be idempotent, would seem a good best practice. But a follow-on question might be: when is it a good idea to use querystrings? Ian bryan rasmussen wrote: > Well I think there is a best-practice scenario for avoiding > querystrings as much as possible, based simply on the difficulty of > automated agents, such as search engine bots, of differentiating > between different content that is made different by the structure of > its querystrings. > > Cheers, > Bryan Rasmussen > > On 12/10/05, Ian Graham <ian.graham@u...> wrote: > >>You are quite right -- this is very much a human user-centric approach >>to URLs. Really, then, my example reflects one use case for one type of >>actor. >> >>So, going back to Roger's original question (best practices for URI >>construction), it is likely true that there is no one set of best >>practices. The best practices you want will depend on the application >>you are building: that is, on actors who will be using your URIs, and >>the use cases that are relevant. >> >>Does that make sense? >> >>[Aside: don't you like the way Roger can post seemingly simple >> questions that somehow always lead to incredibly interesting >> discussions!] >> >>Greg Hunt wrote: >> >>>Isn't that a specific case of a URL referring to a human-readable web >>>page in a site addressed to people? When the resource does not provide >>>for navigation (media files or database files do not usually point at >>>each other, web pages usually do point at each other) truncating the URL >>>is an attempt to get to a web page (in essentially a parallel >>>information structure) that then points to the thing that you want. The >>>fall-back to web pages is not part of the general resource model and >>>nothing stops anyone from creating a site that contains no html if they >>>only want to to provide resources other than web pages. >>>People do all kinds of bizarre things with web browsers and a >>>human-readable web site architecture should accommodate that, but web >>>site architecture and resource identification are different things. >>>Greg >>> >>>Ian Graham wrote: >>> >>> >>>> >>>>Bjoern Hoehrmann wrote: >>>> >>>> >>>>>* Ian Graham wrote: >>>>> >>>>> >>>>>>One observation/result was that a substantial fraction of users >>>>>>expect truncating a URL at 'natural' places to return meaningful >>>>>>results. This, for example, is one of the intuitive 'search' >>>>>>algorithms people use when a link doesn't work. As an example, if >>>>>> >>>>>>http://somewhere.org/US/IL/ >>>>>> >>>>>>is a valid URL, then truncating this to >>>>>> >>>>>>http://somewhere.org/US/ >>>>>> >>>>>>should both work and provide meaningful information. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>>People who do this commit web architecture crime, the TAG commands >>>>>"People making use of URIs SHOULD NOT attempt to infer properties >>>>>of the referenced resource". >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>>Well, since likely < 0.002% of Web users have read the spec, and since >>>>that recommendation is counter to any intuitive understanding of a >>>>URL, that particular recommendation is .... err... useless. >>>> >>>>People do what make sense to them. And since URLs have structure, some >>>>people (and likely some software) naturally look for meaning in it. >>>> >>>>I mean how often have you gone to a URL, got a 404, and then chopped >>>>bits off until you found something relevant/useful? And how often >>>>were you [expletive deleted] when that didn't work? >>>> >>>>Designing for what people actually do is, imo, a characteristic of >>>>good design, even if this contradicts a spec. >>>> >>>>Ian >>> >>> >>> >>>----------------------------------------------------------------- >>>The xml-dev list is sponsored by XML.org <http://www.xml.org>, an >>>initiative of OASIS <http://www.oasis-open.org> >>> >>>The list archives are at http://lists.xml.org/archives/xml-dev/ >>> >>>To subscribe or unsubscribe from this list use the subscription >>>manager: <http://www.oasis-open.org/mlmanage/index.php> >>> >>-- >>Ian Graham >>H: 416.769.2422 / W: 416.513.5656 / E: <ian . graham AT utoronto . ca> >> >>----------------------------------------------------------------- >>The xml-dev list is sponsored by XML.org <http://www.xml.org>, an >>initiative of OASIS <http://www.oasis-open.org> >> >>The list archives are at http://lists.xml.org/archives/xml-dev/ >> >>To subscribe or unsubscribe from this list use the subscription >>manager: <http://www.oasis-open.org/mlmanage/index.php> >> >> -- Ian Graham H: 416.769.2422 / W: 416.513.5656 / E: <ian . graham AT utoronto . ca>
|
PURCHASE STYLUS STUDIO ONLINE TODAY!Purchasing Stylus Studio from our online shop is Easy, Secure and Value Priced! Download The World's Best XML IDE!Accelerate XML development with our award-winning XML IDE - Download a free trial today! Subscribe in XML format
|