Which Is More Appropriate WCF 3.5 REST or SOAP?

  • Thread starter Thread starter pbd22
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pbd22

Hi.

I hate to start another "SOAP" vs. REST discussion but I am currently
trying to decide
which way to go. I have done a lot of reading on both thus far and it
sounds to me like
SOAP is best used for heavy lifting particularly in an enterprise
environment. REST
seems to be the preferred way to go for most client calls over the
public domain.

I am at the beginning of the learning curve in either case and am
somewhat partial to
REST largely because it seems like the development community is
heading in that
direction. But, does it make sense in the context of my project?

What I am currently designing is a commerce web service that will act
as the "middle layer"
between the database and client calls. All methods (buy, sell, search,
authorization, etc)
will be accessed for processing on the server. I have installed WS*
services in projects
before and liked that, once included and called, intellisense can
locate information about
what I am accessing (namespace / methods / summary / parameters,
etc).

Is it possible to include a service API and call it from the server in
the same way using REST?
I had the feeling from what I read that REST involves more client
scripting (using JSON, for example, for server calls).

I know I may sound a little confused (i am just starting to read about
this) but, which is the best way to go if I wast to expose service
methods and call them from the server?

Thanks.
 
pbd22 said:
Hi.

I hate to start another "SOAP" vs. REST discussion but I am currently
trying to decide
which way to go. I have done a lot of reading on both thus far and it
sounds to me like
SOAP is best used for heavy lifting particularly in an enterprise
environment. REST
seems to be the preferred way to go for most client calls over the
public domain.
Click to expand...

http://silverlight.net/forums/p/21675/77653.aspx

I agree with the comments on the reply for SOAP vs REST.
I am at the beginning of the learning curve in either case and am
somewhat partial to
REST largely because it seems like the development community is
heading in that
direction. But, does it make sense in the context of my project?
Click to expand...

For some things yes, like using an ASP.NET Dataservice site that uses REST.
What I am currently designing is a commerce web service that will act
as the "middle layer"
between the database and client calls. All methods (buy, sell, search,
authorization, etc)
will be accessed for processing on the server. I have installed WS*
services in projects
before and liked that, once included and called, intellisense can
locate information about
what I am accessing (namespace / methods / summary / parameters,
etc).
Click to expand...

You might want to consider using ADO.NET Entity Framework on the back-end
using a WCF Web Service, as ADO.NET Entity Framework Entities are an
implicit data contract.
Is it possible to include a service API and call it from the server in
the same way using REST?
I had the feeling from what I read that REST involves more client
scripting (using JSON, for example, for server calls).
Click to expand...

REST would be good for searches on the Entity Framework Model with an API
using an ASP.NET read-only Dataservice, which you can use Linq and query
against the EFM. It would be like an internal Linq Service Provider for your
solution.
I know I may sound a little confused (i am just starting to read about
this) but, which is the best way to go if I wast to expose service
methods and call them from the server?
Click to expand...

I assume you have heard of SOA and n-tier architecture. You might want to
look at Model View Presenter, Domain Driven Design, Test Driven Design as
well.
 
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