Beyond HTTP GET

HTTP web services are not limited to GET requests. What if you want to create something new? Whenever you post a comment on a discussion forum, update your weblog, publish your status on a microblogging service like Twitter or Identi.ca, you’re probably already using http POST.

Both Twitter and Identi.ca both offer a simple HTTP-based API for publishing and updating your status in 140 characters or less. Let’s look at Identi.ca’s API documentation for updating your status:

Identi.ca rest api Method: statuses/update
Updates the authenticating user’s status. Requires the status parameter specified below. Request must be a POST.

URL
	https://identi.ca/api/statuses/update.format
Formats
	xml, json, rss, atom
HTTP Method(s)
	POST
Requires Authentication
	true
Parameters
	status. Required. The text of your status update. URL-encode as necessary.

How does this work? To publish a new message on Identi.ca, you need to issue an HTTP POST ...