A comparison and analysis of SOAP and REST

Abstract

Centered on service oriented architecture, web services have enabled the integration of disparate applications belonging to differing platforms and technologies. Two leading methodologies for implementing web services are REST and SOAP. Over the past few years, there has been considerable debate over comparative benefits of each of these approaches for web service development.

This work was targeted at exploring the general pros and cons of both these techniques. In addition, a comparative analysis of REST vs. SOAP, was also performed specifically in context of an integration project between the central registry system of Finnish Golf Union (FGU) and its subsidiary golf club systems.

This research was performed using two kinds of research methods: literature review and design science. Initially, literature was reviewed, in order to obtain an in-depth understanding of the core concepts of REST as well as SOAP. In addition, research studies, containing practical as well as theoretical discussion comparing these two alternatives, were also reviewed.

For practical aspects of the evaluation, RESTful and SOAP-based versions of the integration project for FGU were analysed. The RESTful version was developed individually, for the purpose of this thesis, while the SOAP-based application was developed as part of a team that was already implementing this project at the time of beginning this research work. After development, a qualitative evaluation of the efficiency, reliability and performance was carried out for each of these applications. Based on this evaluation, a comparative analysis was prepared for these two alternatives from various perspectives.