Representational state transfer (REST) and Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP)

Vicky picture Vicky · Oct 16, 2008 · Viewed 280.2k times · Source

Can somebody explain what is REST and what is SOAP in plain english? And how Web Services work?

Answer

Nakkeeran picture Nakkeeran · Jan 24, 2012

Simple explanation about SOAP and REST

SOAP - "Simple Object Access Protocol"

SOAP is a method of transferring messages, or small amounts of information, over the Internet. SOAP messages are formatted in XML and are typically sent using HTTP (hypertext transfer protocol).


Rest - Representational state transfer

Rest is a simple way of sending and receiving data between client and server and it doesn't have very many standards defined. You can send and receive data as JSON, XML or even plain text. It's light weighted compared to SOAP.


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