science

Linked Data Platform

Linked Data Platform is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Linked Data Platform rather than just read about it. In short: Linked Data Platform (LDP) is a linked data specification defining a set of integration patterns for building RESTful HTTP services that are capable of read/write of RDF data. The Linked Data Platform allows use of RESTful HTTP to consume, create, update and delete both RDF and non-RDF resources.

Key takeaways

Linked Data Platform belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Linked Data Platform to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Linked Data Platform from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Linked Data Platform (LDP) is a linked data specification defining a set of integration patterns for building RESTful HTTP services that are capable of read/write of RDF data. The Linked Data Platform allows use of RESTful HTTP to consume, create, update and delete both RDF and non-RDF resources. In addition, it defines a set of "container" constructs – buckets into which documents can be added with a relationship between the bucket and the object similar to the relationship between a blog and its constituent blog posts.

History LDP evolved from work at IBM's Rational Product Group for application integration. Starting in 2010, IBM looked at linked data for application lifecycle management and sought what was an alternative means for read–write linked data. IBM joined with the W3C in June 2012 to form a W3C working group, which operated until July 2015. On 26 February 2015, the W3C Linked Data Platform 1.0 was approved as a W3C Recommendation.

Implementation Read–write linked data was previously described using WebDAV and SPARUL by Tim Berners-Lee in his design issues that built upon his four principles for linked data. The Linked Data Platform includes Tim Berners-Lee's four principles, and focuses on the following concepts.

LDP resources (LDPR) HTTP and RDF techniques to read and write linked data Resources can be created, modified, deleted and read using standard HTTP methods (i.e., POST, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, GET) Cover "RDF sources" as well as "binary resources"

LDP containers (LDPC) An LDPR to which you POST to create new things, GET to find existing things Similar to what AtomPub does for XML Available in three flavors: BasicContainer, DirectContainer, and IndirectContainer

Paging and ordering A mechanism to get the content of a LDPC in chunks and specify the order in which the content is sorted

LDP and WebDAV relationship LDP is not a file system, but it uses linked data to produce the kind of information that can be used to create a modern file system abstraction for interacting with HTTP-accessible resources (colloquially referred to as "Web resources"). In contrast, WebDAV is a "set of extensions to the HTTP protocol which allows users to collaboratively edit and manage files on remote web servers". However, LDP can be used with WebDAV. For example, there are live LDP containers in the wild, identified by linked data URIs, that can also function as WebDAV endpoints (i.e., mountable by any WebDAV compliant user agent).

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Linked Data Platform

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Linked Data Platform claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Linked Data Platform before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Linked Data Platform ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Linked Data Platform

In research: Linked Data Platform appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Linked Data Platform in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Linked Data Platform is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Hypertext Transfer Protocol, Resource Description Framework, Semantic Web, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Linked Data Platform outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Linked Data Platform in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Linked Data Platform means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Linked Data Platform out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Linked Data Platform in simple terms?

Why does Linked Data Platform matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Linked Data Platform?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Linked Data Platform.