What is a fundamental property of REST that contrasts with SOAP's statefulness?

• A. REST uses only XML.
• B. REST is strictly stateful.
• C. REST requires WS-Reliable messaging.
• D. REST is stateless.

Answer: (D)

REST is designed to be stateless, meaning each client request contains all the information the server needs to process it and the server does not keep any session information between requests. This allows every request to be handled independently, making servers easier to scale and enabling more effective caching, since responses can be reused without relying on stored context. Authentication and user state are carried with each request (often via tokens) rather than stored on the server. SOAP, in contrast, often involves maintaining state across interactions or relies on additional WS-* standards like WS-Reliable Messaging, which add complexity and statefulness. REST is also not tied to XML and typically uses JSON or other representations, but the key difference here is statelessness.