Core Concepts

Understanding the core concepts of hateoflux is key to building hypermedia-driven APIs that follow HATEOAS principles.

Representation Model

hateoflux wraps resources to enhance domain objects with hypermedia links and embedded resources, following the HAL (Hypertext Application Language) standard. These capabilities include:

  • Wrapping Resources: Encapsulate single resources and collections with hypermedia links.
  • Reactive Systems: Handle multiple results effectively in reactive APIs.
  • Main and Embedded Resources: Distinguish between primary and embedded resources.
  • Resource Naming: Customize serialization names using @Relation.

Learn more about the representation model

hateoflux provides tools for link creation, including manual methods, URI templates, and integration with Spring WebFlux via SpringControllerLinkBuilder. These tools feature:

  • Manual Link Building: Use the Link class to create links.
  • URI Templates: Define dynamic URLs with placeholders.
  • SpringControllerLinkBuilder: Generate links from controller methods for consistency.

Learn how to build links with hateoflux

Assemblers

Assemblers simplify creating HAL-compliant resource representations by wrapping resources and adding hypermedia links.

  • Purpose: Reduce boilerplate and standardize resource wrapping.
  • Types of Assemblers:
    • FlatHalWrapperAssembler: For resources without embedded content.
    • EmbeddingHalWrapperAssembler: For resources with embedded content.

Learn how to use assemblers in hateoflux

Response Handling

hateoflux provides specialized response types for different resource scenarios while maintaining full integration with Spring WebFlux. These response types comprise:

  • Type-Safe Responses: Three response types for different use cases - single resources, streamed resources, and lists.
  • Header Management: Fluent API for HTTP header manipulation.
  • Status Code Support: Built-in support for HTTP status codes.
  • Auto-configuration: Zero setup required for response handling.

Learn about response handling in hateoflux