RESTful APIs vs SOAP

Developers should learn RESTful APIs when building web services, mobile backends, or microservices that require standardized, platform-independent communication over HTTP meets developers should learn soap when working with enterprise-level systems, legacy applications, or scenarios requiring strict security, reliability, and transactional support, such as in financial services or healthcare. Here's our take.

RESTful APIs

Nice Pick

Developers should learn RESTful APIs when building web services, mobile backends, or microservices that require standardized, platform-independent communication over HTTP

Pros

• They are essential for creating public-facing APIs, integrating third-party services, or developing single-page applications (SPAs) that interact with servers, as they simplify client-server interactions and improve scalability
• Related to: http-methods, json

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

SOAP

Developers should learn SOAP when working with enterprise-level systems, legacy applications, or scenarios requiring strict security, reliability, and transactional support, such as in financial services or healthcare

Pros

• It is particularly useful for integrating heterogeneous systems where standardized, platform-independent communication is critical, and when using WS-* standards for features like encryption and message routing
• Related to: xml, wsdl

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

The Verdict

These tools serve different purposes. RESTful APIs is a concept while SOAP is a protocol. We picked RESTful APIs based on overall popularity, but your choice depends on what you're building.

The Bottom Line

RESTful APIs wins

Based on overall popularity. RESTful APIs is more widely used, but SOAP excels in its own space.