But the client already had to consider what data it needed.
The only difference is that in a REST world it needed to make several calls to fetch all the data (often waiting for resource references in the nth response before being able to build the (n+1)th query) whereas now it can fetch them all in a single query.
So if anything it reduces the client complexity, as well as making it much easier to extend the API to support new client requirements without having to resort to REST-style versioning.
Definitely, although there can also be refactoring benefits to look out for. In the article example it would be much easier to change the default popup window size (800x800) across the project if they're all using the same variable.
On the other hand, tools like CheckStyle can make people do some strange things when they take it too literally.
I once reviewed code that defined: static final int
The only difference is that in a REST world it needed to make several calls to fetch all the data (often waiting for resource references in the nth response before being able to build the (n+1)th query) whereas now it can fetch them all in a single query.
So if anything it reduces the client complexity, as well as making it much easier to extend the API to support new client requirements without having to resort to REST-style versioning.