Current trends inspired from the development of the Web 2.0 advocate 
designing smart things (e.g., wireless sensors nodes or home appliances) as 
service platforms. Interoperable services are mainly achieved using two 
different approaches: WS-* and RESTful Web services. These approaches have 
previously been compared with respect to performance and features, but no work 
has been done to elicit the developers' preferences and programming 
experiences. We conducted a study in which 69 novice developers learned both 
technologies and implemented mobile phone applications that retrieve sensor 
data, both through a RESTful and through a WS-* service architecture. The 
results complement the available technological decision framework when 
building Internet of Things applications. The results suggest that developers 
find REST easier to learn than WS-* and consider it more suitable for 
programming smart things. However, for applications with advanced security and 
Quality of Service requirements, WS-* Web services are perceived to be better 
suited.