SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) is a protocol specification providing for the exchange of structured information or data in web services.
+ Similar to an envelope and is based on the WS standards (Widely implemented and provide standards for security,addressing,messaging etc)
+ Uses Web Services Description Language (WSDL) to describes services and how to access them.
+ Overhead comes with the envelope.
RESTful APIs
Representational State Transfer is a software architecture style consisting of guideline and best practices for creating scalable web services.
SOAP characteristics
1.Standards-based
2.Reliant on XML
3.Highly intolerant of errors
4.Slower
5.Built-in error handling
6.Some example of where SOAP works or fits in better are
7.Asynchronous processing
8.Format contract
9.Stateful operations
RESTful API's
REST is a framework,not a protocol,therefore its not band to:
1.It's lightweight best choice for mobile applications.
2.It uses simple URLs.
3.It is not reliant on XML
4.It's scalable.
5.It outputs in many formats (CSV,JSON etc)
6.It's efficient of situations where means it uses smaller messages than XML.
7.Some examples of situations where REST works well are
8.When bandwidth is limited.
9.When caching is needed.