Some Basics about SOAP and REST

Simple Object Access Protocol is a defined protocol used for communication. It is a protocol that defines a set of rules for communication using XML-based messaging. 

REpresentational State Transfer is not based on any protocol but has a standard architecture principle used to send data over standard protocols (HTTP).

SOAP Works purely on XML based, while REST supports JSON, XML, Microformats etc.

SOAP Doesn’t support Error Handling, while REST has built in Error handling.

SOAP requires standard tools with middle ware support while REST doesn’t require any standard tools but requires a standard URI for data transfer.

SOAP is a heavy weight protocol but a distinct advantage is its language, platform and most importantly it is transport protocol independent while REST is light-weight architecture.

SOAP is compatible and secure; this ensures SOAP services are not blocked firewall while REST is fast and efficient but with a disadvantage of web caching.

SOAP is used widely for asynchronous processing of information over the internet while REST is a stateless protocol.

Implementing REST for complex applications can sometimes be very difficult. This is basically because you need to implement all the major components like security, transaction, and addressing separately. SOAP is always an intelligent choice with increasing complexity. Also, SOAP is the best option when the application is based on internal API’s and the communication between the server-client is minimal. However, if the application is for developing third-party API’s or public API’s REST seems to be a better and efficient option.