Introduction to SOAP APIs

What is SOAP API?

SOAP stands for Simple Objects Access Protocol. 

It is a form of protocols for web communication and is mainly used for exposing web services and exchanging data and is based on XML format. It also particularly follows predefined standards like structure for messaging, rules for encoding, and an outline for requests and responses regarding procedures

Features of SOAP API

• SOAP has an integrated function for creating web services and this enables SOAP to manage communications and responses independently of any platform or language. 

• SOAP can sometimes be extremely complicated to work with. To counter this, there are some languages which use SOAP shortcuts to bring down the complexities. 

• SOAP APIs also have the benefit of creating web based protocols like HTTP and XML which run the operating systems. This makes it easy for developers to manage web services and they do not need to worry about the language or platform.

• Another interesting feature of SOAP is the integrated mechanism of handling errors. In case of any issue with the request, the response also has the information regarding the error which can be useful to solve the issue. The process of reporting the error also uses standardised codes which makes it possible to automate error handling.

REST vs SOAP API: Difference between the two

Here are some of the common differences between SOAP and REST APIs which must be considered thoroughly before making a choice between the two:

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As we can see, there is no direct comparison between REST and SOAP APIs. The choice needs to be made considering the above factors. Make that choice with the support of experts and create in-house expertise with Uptut’s hands-on training and expert consultations.

Keep the API Testing streak going: learn about Payload in APIs in the next article.