Difference between SOAP and REST Web services

Difference between SOAP and REST Web services:

SOAP Web Service:

 

1. Simple Object Access Protocol
2. XML Based.
3. Follows JAX-WS (JAX Web services) specifications.
4. Two types of SOAP’s are RPC Style and Document Style.
5. WSDL file should be shared from service side to generate the client executable code
6. SOAP protocol helps to transfer the data between client and server.
7. Input data should also be passed through XML only.

 

REST Web Service:

 

1. REpresentational State Transfer
2. XML/JSON(JavaScript Object Notation)/Text Based and JSON is recommended due to light weight.
3. Follows JAX-RS (JAX Restful Web Services) specifications.
4. Two types of REST are Jersey and Resteasy.
5. Proper documentation is enough to make the client to understand and hit the correct URI(Uniform Resource Identifiers).
6. HTTP protocol helps to transfer the data between client and server.
7. Input data can also be shared via http url parameters.

 

Feel free to comment if something is missed out in the above difference between soap and rest list in below comments area.