SOAP Protocol |
RESTful Web Services |
SOAP is a protocol. |
REST is an architectural approach. |
SOAP acronym for Simple Object Access Protocol. |
REST acronym for REpresentational State Transfer. |
In SOAP, the data exchange format is always XML. |
There is no strict data exchange format. We can use JSON, XML, etc. |
XML is the most popular data exchange format in SOAP web services. |
JSON is the most popular data exchange format in RESTful web services. |
SOAP uses Web Service Definition Language (WSDL). |
REST does not have any standard definition language. |
SOAP does not pose any restrictions on transport. We can use either HTTP or MQ. |
RESTful services use the most popular HTTP protocol. |
SOAP web services are typical to implement. |
RESTful services are easier to implement than SOAP. |
SOAP web services use the JAX-WS API. |
RESTful web services use the JAX-RS API. |
SOAP protocol defines too many standards. |
RESTful services do not emphasis on too many standards. |
SOAP cannot use RESTful services because it is a protocol. |
RESTful service can use SOAP web services because it is an architectural approach that can use any protocol like HTTP and SOAP. |
SOAP reads cannot be cached. |
REST reads can be cached. |