SOAP vs REST

Let’s Understand the difference One-by-One,

SOAP

• This is a Protocol.
• Stands for Simple Object Access Protocol.
• Not commonly preferred, but used in cases which require stateful data transfer and more reliability.
• Used to implement web services.
• SOAP cannot use REST as it is a protocol.
• SOAP specifies standards are meant to be followed strictly.
• Client is more tightly coupled to the server which is similar to desktop applications having strict contracts.
• Permits only XML transmission between the client and the server.
• Requires more bandwidth.
• Supports SSL & WS-Security.
• Reads are not cacheable.
• Uses service interfaces for exposing the resource logic.
• SOAP is slower when compared to REST.
• As it’s a protocol, it defines its own security measures.
• Runs on HTTP but envelopes the message.

REST

• This is a Architecture.
• Stands for Representational State Transfer.
• REST is stateless, therefore the SERVER has no state (or session data)
• It is an architectural pattern for developing client-server communication systems.
• Web service mostly uses POST method to make operations, whereas REST uses GET to access resources.
• Requires the interaction between client and server.
• An architectural design pattern for developing web services
• This can have SOAP protocol as part of the implementation.
• Standards but they need not be strictly followed.
• The REST client is more flexible like a browser and does not depend on how the server is developed unless it follows the protocols required for establishing communication.
• Supports data of multiple formats like XML, JSON, Text, etc.
• Read requests can be cached.
• It uses the HTTP headers to hold meta information
• uses URI to expose the resource logic.
• REST is faster when compared to SOAP.
• It only inherits the security measures based on what protocol it uses for the implementation.
• Commonly preferred by developers these days as it provides more scalability and maintainability.
• Has a URI for accessing resources by means of a request-response pattern.

Additional Info

CRUD is an acronym for the four basic operations used in RDBMS(relational database management system).

REST Uses HTTP for all 4 CRUD operations as listed below,

1. GET: Read
2. POST: Create
3. PUT/PATCH: Update
4. DELETE: Delete

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