Every common and casual thing in our mid gets digitized in a systematic manner to be extremely computational, communicative, responsive, and active. With a variety of network options, every kind of embedded system (small and large) becomes interlinked with one another in order to be purposefully discoverable, accessible, assessable, interoperable, and collaborative. That is, all kinds of heterogeneities and complexities that constitute a significant barrier in terms of enabling digitized objects and connected devices to talk to one another in a sensible fashion are being immediately decimated through software-enabled abstraction techniques and tips. It is a well-known and indisputable truth that software eats the world. Every device, consumer electronics, industry machine, flying drone, humanoid robot, medical instrument, home utensil and ware, enabling toolkit, handheld, networkable wearable, portable, fixed system, network solution, automobile, and engine in our everyday environment is getting empowered by embedded software adapters, connectors, and drivers. That is, software enablement is the most vital process and target for everyday objects to be empowered accordingly to decisively join in the mainstream IT. Anything stuffed with some relevant software snippets can become digitally important. That is, ordinary things are getting readied to be extraordinary for the ensuing era of the digital economy. Advanced cars and vehicles are being stuffed with a lot of software modules in order to establish and ensure high-level automation.
Similarly, home, building, and industrial automation is accomplished through the embedding of software libraries. Flights, drones, robots, SCADA systems, sensors, actuators, industrial machinery, boilers, and oil rigs, are being enriched with software agents in order to be software-enabled. Thus, software enablement has become a mandatory assignment for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). The next question is how to enable software-defined and -driven systems to find one another in order to initiate fruitful collaborations. APIs have emerged as the mechanism to assist in facilitating seamless and spontaneous device integration.
RESTful services and APIs are the prominent and dominant method for enabling device-to-device (D2D) and device-to-cloud (D2C) integration capabilities. The grandiose vision of cyber-physical systems (CPS) is to get nourished and then flourish with the smart application of RESTful methods.