Now, SOAP or REST? That is the question I pose to you. i'm getting
into WCF and SOAP now. Seems like a lot of XML stuff, which is OK
with me.
Here is what I found from the link Rex Ballard posted (sounds
reasonable to me). So SOAP is superior.
RL
To summarize their strengths and weaknesses:
*** SOAP ***
Pros:
• Langauge, platform, and transport agnostic
• Designed to handle distributed computing environments
• Is the prevailing standard for web services, and hence has better
support from other standards (WSDL, WS-*) and tooling from vendors
• Built-in error handling (faults)
• Extensibility
Cons:
• Conceptually more difficult, more "heavy-weight" than REST
• More verbose
• Harder to develop, requires tools
*** REST ***
Pros:
• Language and platform agnostic
• Much simpler to develop than SOAP
• Small learning curve, less reliance on tools
• Concise, no need for additional messaging layer
• Closer in design and philosophy to the Web
Cons:
• Assumes a point-to-point communication model--not usable for
distributed computing environment where message may go through one or
more intermediaries
• Lack of standards support for security, policy, reliable messaging,
etc., so services that have more sophisticated requirements are harder
to develop ("roll your own")
• Tied to the HTTP transport model