Resource

A resource is an intangible entity which is located by a URI. A resource is intangible in that it cannot be reached directly - only the representation of a resource may be interacted with.

In practical terms a resource cannot correspond one-to-one with a Java object (for example a String or a ByteArray). We can see this if we consider a URI to an XML resource. file:/example.xml. Though we conceptually understand that this is an XML document we might want to access this resource in any one of a number of forms - for example a stream of characters, as a stream of SAX events, DOM, JDOM etc.

So a resource is an intangible entity which may have a number of concrete tangible forms.