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[John Cowan <jcowan@reutershealth.com>]

Benjamin Franz scripsit:

> As long as when you repeat the GET it delivers another can of coke to your
> desk from somewhere else - it _is_ idempotent. It is the _repeatability_
> that is key, not whether it initiates a side-effect. Side-effect free
> requests are idempotent, but not all idempotent requests are side-effect free.

But it's not repeatable.  Eventually, all the Coke cans in the world are on
your desk, and then further repetitions will not avail.  True idempotent
requests can be repeated indefinitely and produce the same effects each time.
Causing a physical movement is the very paradigm of a side effect.


>         People buy holes, not drill bits.
>                                 ---Peter Deutsch

People buy furniture, not holes.  But what they really buy is peace of mind.

-- 
John Cowan
        jcowan@reutershealth.com
                I am a member of a civilization. --David Brin