# What are REST and SOAP?

REST and SOAP are both web-communication protocols. Only the front-end of applications is stored on the user's device, while the related data resides on remote servers. REST and SOAP handle how to fetch that data.

**SOAP** *(Simple Object Access Protocol)* is a standardized protocol with pre-defined rules.

**REST** *(Representational State Transfer)* is an architectural style with loose guidelines, and either one can be used to develop data-retrieval APIs for a system.

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# How are they different functionally?

SOAP has been a really popular messaging protocol for a long time. It comes with strict rules which make features such as the ACID (Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, Durability) properties and authorization possible. However, SOAP generally requires a lot of bandwidth and resources, which results in slower operations. 

REST was developed to address these problems, and in turn has a more flexible architecture and loose guidelines. As a result, it's lightweight and better performing. 

This has made REST incredibly popular in today’s age, where even a few seconds make a huge difference.



|                    | **SOAP**                                      | **REST**                                 |
|--------------------|-------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------|
| **Approach**           | Data available as services: getValue      | Data available as resources: “value” |
| **Performance**        | Requires more bandwidth and compute power | Uses fewer resources                 |
| **Message Format**     | Only XML                                  | XML, HTML, JSON etc.                 |
| **Transfer Protocols** | SMTP, HTTP, UDP, etc.                     | HTTP only                            |

REST API vs. SOAP

What are REST and SOAP? REST and SOAP are both web-communication protocols. Only the front-end of applications is stored on the user s device, while the related data resides on remote servers. REST and SOAP handle how to fetch that data. SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) is a standardized protocol with pre-defined rules. REST (Representational State Transfer) is an architectural style with loose guidelines, and either one can be used to develop data-retrieval APIs for a system.   How are they different functionally? SOAP has been a really popular messaging protocol for a long time. It comes with strict rules which make features such as the ACID (Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, Durability) properties and authorization possible. However, SOAP generally requires a lot of bandwidth and resources, which results in slower operations. REST was developed to address these problems, and in turn has a more flexible architecture and loose guidelines. As a result, it s lightweight and better performing. This has made REST incredibly popular in today s age, where even a few seconds make a huge difference. 

	SOAP	REST
Approach	Data available as services: getValue	Data available as resources: “value”
Performance	Requires more bandwidth and compute power	Uses fewer resources
Message Format	Only XML	XML, HTML, JSON etc.
Transfer Protocols	SMTP, HTTP, UDP, etc.	HTTP only