Web Services

A method of communication between two computing devices within a network. It is also described as a collection of open protocols and standards used to exchange data between applications or systems. Applications written in various programming languages running on different platforms can use web services to exchange information over a network.

REPRESENTATIONAL STATE TRANSFER (REST):

REST (REpresentational State Transfer) is an architectural style for developing web services. REST is popular because of its simplicity and the fact that it relies on the Internet's existing HTTP systems and functions to achieve its goals, rather than creating new standards, frameworks and technologies.