Differences SOAP vs REST: Comparison of protocols and their security

SOAP and REST are two of the most used terms in the API development sector. If you don’t have thorough knowledge of the two, you may wonder:

* Why should a developer choose and ditch others?
* Can these two be used at a time?
* …and so on.

Well, it’s a lot of information and is covered bit by bit in this post. So, if you have anything to do with API development and [API security]() and are willing to bring SOAP or REST at work, this post is just the right thing to refer to before starting off.

### What Is SOAP?

Let’s begin with knowing the fundamentals of SOAP. SOAP means Simple Object Access Protocol and is an API development protocol designed with a motive to bring stability and consistency in the data exchange process, which happened between programs built using different programming languages, tools, and platforms.

It presents a globally recognized set of rules and regulations that anyone willing to achieve seamless client and server interaction needs to follow. Requests in SOAP are delivered using envelopes. These envelopes hold information crucial for request processing. Mostly, the key parts of the SOAP envelope are a header and body attributes.

#### Basic Features of SOAP

Here are some of the key features of SOAP that make it stand out:

* It is built with XML and can only be used for web services.
* SOAP uses a lot of bandwidth for message processing as SOAP messages hold a huge chunk of data.
* SOAP can’t be used by REST

#### When To Use SOAP?

As SOAP plays a key role in API development, here are the areas where its implementation will be proved fruitful.

1. **Use it for synchronous processing and invocation subsequently**

_If the client _needs to have certain application reliability and enhance API security then the latest SOAP standard, SOAP 1.2, is here to here. It offers a couple of professional features for seamless and synchronous processing.

It also supports subsequent invocation of certain APIs and incorporates needed security practices.

**2. Use it as an official communication**

In situations when server and client are already ready to exchange data in a format then use SOAP 1.2 as it offers a wide range of rigid specifications for such a communication.

**3. Use it for seamless processing of stateful operations**

For an application that has an obligation to maintain the state from one request to another, using SOAP 1.2 will make the job quick and easy as it endows the developers with a recognized WS* structure for such tasks.

#### Example SOAP API

bcd
Joe>

#### Pros and Cons Of SOAP

Now that the basics of SOAP are clear, it’s time to learn about the merits and demerits that a developer will enjoy with SOAP.

**Pros**

* With SOAP, developers will be able to use WSDL. WSDL is the Web Services Description Language used widely to explain web service procedures and access methods. It serves as a comprehensive resource to learn about API consumption. It makes API development a seamless experience.
* SOAP is a great tool to have when working with multiple extensions is the aim. It has an amazing compatibility extension like WS Addressing, WS Security, and WS Federation and can join hands with them to double-up the application capabilities. In short, it makes creating highly functional apps a little strenuous task.
* SOAP is a protocol-neutral protocol and can be accessed easily via HTTP, SMTP, TCP, and many other kinds of application protocols. This also means a wide range of users can bring it into practice.

**Cons**

* While SOAP is doing a wonderful job, it lacks at certain fronts. And, before you think of using it, knowing the areas wherein can disappoint you is crucial.
* The biggest drawback of SOAP is that it uses XML for payload data transfer. XML takes longer than usual time for this job that further gives birth to multiple performance issues.
* The second thing that can force people to stay away from SOAP is its complicated syntax. It can only work with XML and it demands a little more effort and time to extract or read data from envelopes. So, it lengthens the API development time.

### What Is REST?

REST or Representational State Transfer is an undividedly different approach. It’s a type of architectural pattern employed widely for the modern web-based application development task. It administers the key application components like files, even objects, and media components.

APIs, produced using REST, is ready to present website or application functionality over the HTTP and are supportive with HTTP verbs like getting and POST

As REST APIs have unmatched interoperability on the web, they have become the prime choice of many.


#### Basic features of REST

* REST takes the help of Uniform Service locators to reach at the heart of the hardware device components.
* REST is the base for data communication, which happened in the modern application infrastructure.
* While SOAP can’t use REST, REST can use SOAP. It uses it as a key protocol of web services describing the tool. In fact, it will need SOAP for completing the application development as it’s only an architectural pattern and doesn’t have any standard format for explaining web services.

#### When to use REST?

If one wants to utilize the full potential of REST, using it in the right place is the key. Here are the key areas wherein it can do wonders.

1. **Use it when you have restricted bandwidth**

As specified above, SOAP messages utilize a lot of bandwidth. So, if there is a crisis of resources and bandwidth then REST is a life savior. It works wonderfully even if network bandwidth is restrained.

**2. Use it when there is no need to maintain a state**

Operations that involve no adherence with the statelessness in transferring information from one request to another can be done with full accuracy with REST.

**3. Use it when catching a lot of requests is the need of the hour**

Caching of requests is a key operation and needs to be accomplished with full accuracy. With REST, it’s easy to catch the information as it supports it by all means. In fact, it has handled catching information of the same request multiple times. By doing so, it cuts down the time invested in application development.

**4. Use it when easy coding is required**

The coding of REST APIs and services is far more seamless than SOAP. If there is a time crunch and a quick yet effective web application service is required then REST is the right choice to make.

#### Example REST API

An example REST API object is shown here:

{
“name”: “XYZ”,
“location”: “India”,
“title”: “developer”,
joinYear: 2010
}

#### Pros and Cons Of REST

**Pros**

* REST came into being a little later than SOA. Yet, it has managed to garner a notable significance all because of the impressive benefits it renders to the end-users. Here are the perks that every REST user will enjoy.
* REST is a stateless pattern and allows each web service call to carry all the necessary information. It doesn’t bank upon any other client-server context for information storing. Because of this, it speeds up the entire process.
* APIs developed using REST are highly flexible and can collect the server data in multiple formats. Formats like Atom, JSON, and XML are well supported with REST. So, great freedom in using the format is granted.
* In REST, responses are catchable. Such responses are great to improve the web service performance as all the unwanted calls to the backend are removed.

**Cons**

* No matter how lucrative REST seems, it has some downsides as well. For instance, there are no specific and globally recognized standards, which is the case with SOAP. Because of this, developers end up using it as per their choices and API development becomes complex.
* There are a couple of REST permutations.
* REST-based applications are also very cramped to the HTTP protocol which restricts them.

### Why is REST Faster Than SOAP Web Services?

As quoted above, SOAP uses a complex and standard format. There is no shortcut. Everything has to follow certain rules and regulations. XML is already very tedious. Hence, it is time-consuming.

REST, on the other hand, uses a simple route, JSON, and even cuts down the communication time by caching the information. So, it reaches its target at a much faster pace.


### SOAP vs REST API: Which is More Secure?

API security is one aspect that would be the priority, regardless of what approach you chose. While REST is faster than SOAP and makes things easier, we have to admit that SOAP is more secure.

Both SOAP and REST can use SSL or Secured Socket Layer for protecting the data during the API call request. However, SOAP goes an extra mile and supports Web Services Security as well. Using this extension, application developers can double-up the API security and keep tons of hassles at bay. So, SOAP is better than REST when API security is a matter of concern.

### Benefits of REST Over SOAP

1. REST grants a wide range of data formats to work with. SOAP is very limited at this front. Other than XML, it doesn’t support anything else.
2. REST, when used with JSON, is a piece of cake. Without much complexity, it can be used.
3. Brower clients, using REST, are going to enjoy great technical support.
4. As caching of information, done is REST, is not altered, and is dynamic, the applications will have better performance.
5. It’s most commonly used and has been praised by leaders like Amazon, eBay, Google, and Yahoo for its seamless operations.
6. REST is easy to work with at every front. Whether you talk about its ability to work with less bandwidth or amazing integration power, it stands out at every front. Developers will be able to work from scratch and finish the job in less time. However, that speediness will have no negative impact on the functionality. It will still be top-notch.

### Benefits of SOAP Over REST

1. SOAP offers a pre-made retry logic that is used as compensation for failed communication. REST has no such thing. In case of communication failure, retrying is the only option.
2. SOAP is a highly standardized format and suggests a certain set of rules. Because of this, maintaining quality and standardization becomes easy. REST has no standard rules.
3. The standard HTTP protocol of SOAP makes it possible to remain functional across multiple firewalls and proxies without getting involved in tedious modification.
4. When it comes to compatibility with extensions, SOAP has an upper hand as it can work wonderfully with WS-Addressing, WS-ReliableMessaging, WS-Coordination, and various other options, as suggested by W3C.

API arhitectural styles


### Conclusion

SOAP and REST; both are the two most used and acceptable API development approaches. While SOAP makes everything highly standardized,

REST is easy to work with. So, it’s hard to pick one. It entirely depends upon the organization and its needs. Keep your facts straight, figure out what you want, and then make a choice. Either way, there are some losses and some gains. Just weigh them down intelligently and pick what your mind says.

_Originally published at _[_https://www.wallarm.com_]()_._

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