REST vs. SOAP

 

 

REST

SOAP

Stands For :

 REST Stands for “Representational State Transfer”. SOAP Stands for “Simple Object Access Protocol”.

Type

 REST is an architecture style and not a protocol. SOAP is a protocol which is based on XML.

 

Standard

 REST is not standard specified like SOAP i.e. REST has no such specification. SOAP is standard specific and it is a strongly typed.

Implementation

 Implementation of REST is easy than SOAP. Implementation of SOAP is not so easy as REST.

Speed

 REST is faster than the SOAP. SOAP is not so faster as REST.

Transport Protocol

 REST is transport dependent i.e. it only uses HTTP. SOAP is transport independent protocol i.e. it can use HTTP, SMTP, FTP, UTP and many more..

Size

 REST is lightweight as it does not have extra XML. SOAP is heavy i.e. not light weight.

State

 REST is stateless and easy to understand & implement. SOAP is stateful and having more restricted.

Message

 Message sent using REST should be self contained & Should control interaction. It uses XML, JSON , plain text ,etc.. protocol for message communication. SOAP does not need such requirements. It only uses XML for message communication.

Orientation

 REST is Resource oriented. SOAP is Object Oriented.

Service Description

 REST have no such concept of WSDL for service description. SOAP has WSDL (Web Services Description Language) for service description.

Tools

 REST may not need any kind of tools or framework for development. With SOAP , tools and framework are required for development.