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SOAP is actually agnostic of the underlying transport protocol and can be sent over almost any protocol such as HTTP, SMTP, TCP, or JMS.Īs was already mentioned, the SOAP message itself must be XML-formatted. User-Agent: Apache-HttpClient/4.1.1 (java 1.5)įrom this example we can see the message was sent over HTTP. In programming terms the WSDL can be thought of as a method signature for the web service.Ī sample message exchange looks like the following. The WSDL is often explained as a contract between the provider and the consumer of the service.
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SOAP relies heavily on XML, and together with schemas, defines a very strongly typed messaging framework.Įvery operation the service provides is explicitly defined, along with the XML structure of the request and response for that operation.Įach input parameter is similarly defined and bound to a type: for example an integer, a string, or some other complex object.Īll of this is codified in the WSDL – Web Service Description (or Definition, in later versions) Language. SOAP – Simple Object Access Protocol – is probably the better known of the two models. Or, check out the SOAP vs REST infographic if that's more your style. This is just the TLDR version, keep reading below to go into more details about the two formats. You can just read a postcard too, while an envelope takes a few extra steps, like opening or unwrapping to access what’s inside. Closer to other Web technologies in design philosophyĪs one REST API tutorial put it: SOAP is like an envelope while REST is just a postcard.Ĭertainly a postcard is faster and cheaper to send than an envelope, but it could still be wrapped within something else, even an envelope.Fast (no extensive processing required).Efficient (SOAP uses XML for all messages, REST mostly uses smaller message formats like JSON).Uses easy to understand standards like swagger and OpenAPI Specification 3.0.It has the following advantages when compared to SOAP: REST is easier to use for the most part and is more flexible. Automation when used with certain language products.
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Works well in distributed enterprise environments (REST assumes direct point-to-point communication).Language, platform, and transport independent (REST requires use of HTTP).SOAP provides the following advantages when compared to REST: There are several design models for web services, but the two most dominant are SOAP and REST. The server-side portion of the web API is a programmatic interface to a defined request-response message system, and is typically referred to as the Web Service. The term web API generally refers to both sides of computer systems communicating over a network: the API services offered by a server, as well as the API offered by the client such as a web browser. We suggest starting with the video as an introduction to this topic, or for those who are just visual learners. We will also go over example code, as well as challeneges and critiques of each choice. So, if you're looking for a resource that provides you with an answer to this age old question, you've come to the right place. Just because our name is SoapUI, doesn't mean that we also don't know what we are talking about when it comes to explaining RESTful web services and APIs. The age old question: what is the difference between SOAP and REST APIs, and which one is right for my project?