A difference that makes no difference is no difference (was: XML-RPC and HTTP)

[Gordon Mohr]

Ruseel Turpin writes:
> Importantly, HTTP does not prescribe semantics. Not a bit.
> It is a transport protocol, not a distributed language. With
> a distributed language, such as Linda, one can write a formal
> description of the effects of the primitives that must hold
> in any correct implementation. In contrast, HTTP prescribes
> only the format of a GET, saying nothing about its actual
> effect. An application may eat the data passed, make some
> important change in state, and steganographically confirm
> that transaction through a special 404 page.
> 
> Or so it seems to me.

While in common practice, you are correct, the HTTP/1.1 specs
would disagree with you.

See section 9; especially 9.1 on idempotency of methods (which
GET should have buit POST need not) and 9.3 (GET) and 9.5 (POST).

- Gordon