The following table compares SOAP with REST:
SOAP |
REST |
---|---|
Stands for Simple Object Access Protocol |
Stands for Representational State Transfer |
An XML based message protocol |
Does not enforce message format |
Follows stateful implementation |
Follows stateless model |
No error handling |
Built-in error handling |
Strongly typed, strict specification for implementation |
Less restrictive about the implementation |
Uses interfaces and named operations to expose business logic |
Uses URI and methods to expose resources |
Both SMTP and HTTP are valid application layer protocols used as Transport for SOAP |
Tied to the HTTP transport model |
More verbose |
Less verbose |
Uses WSDL for communication between consumer and provider |
Uses XML or JSON to send and receive data |
Invokes services by calling RPC method |
Invokes services through URL path |