There is a lot to be discussed about the difference between ASP.Net and WCF or Windows Communication Foundation.
First of all, let us know what actually ASP.
NET Web API is. It is actually a framework that utilizes HTTP services
and in the process, makes it easier to respond to the requests raised by
the clients. The response provided depends upon the type or nature of
the requests. The main function of the Web API is to build the HTTP
services, along with handling the requests by using various HTTP driven
protocols. Hence, it can well be said that ASP.
NET Web API is an HTTP service that uses typical HTTP applications and
is designed to reach a wider spectrum of clients having a wide range of
requirements.
ASP.Net
Web based API is used to create RESTful or Representational State
Transfer services. Some of the salient features of the ASP.Net Web API
are discussed below.
- It supports various features of MVC applications
- It is a typical REST services platform
- It is a HTTP service creating framework
- It comes up with API MediaType Formatter that can format the responses into JSON or JavaScript Object Notation as well as XML or Extencible Markup Language.
Choosing between WCF and Web API
Web API
- For creating a service with all HTTP features, you need to choose Web API. Some of these features include request headers and response headers, versioning, URIs and the likes.
- Choosing API becomes imperative when there is need for exposing HTTP services to a wider spectrum of clients through mobiles, iPhones, browsers and so on.
WCF
- WCF is generally chosen when creating any service that would support one-way messaging, duplex communication, message queues and so on.
- It is also chosen for creating services that utilizes a quick transport channel like UDP, TCP, named pipe criteria etc.
Choosing Web API over ACF or the other way round
Interoperability Of The Clients
RESTful services and particularly API, mainly put emphasis on simplicity. Applications that can access websites as well as
RESTful services by using HTTP calls. This may differ from the SOAP,
where clients need to understand the web service by using similar HTTP
calls. This is different from the SOAP where clients need to understand
the web service with the utilization of WSDL file. WSDL configuration
makes things to some extent complicated and needs some additional logic
that a lot of devices might not come up with. These devices include
phones, interactive TVs and so on.
In short, let us discuss the features of the two frameworks so that the readers have a thorough idea.
WCF
- The ServiceContract as well as OperationContract attributes are generally utilized to define the WCF service
- It Supports a number of protocols such as Named Pipes, TCP, HTTP, MSMQ, HTTPS, and TCP
- Hosted by IIS, Windows Activation Service or WAS, Self-hosting, as well as Windows Service
- Supports fast as well as reliable messaging security, absolutely safe, quick and foolproof transaction along with AJAX and REST support.
- Supports DataContract serializer with the use of System.Runtime.Serialization
- Supports Request-Response, One-Way, as well as Duplex service operations
- WCF is much faster than the Web Services
- There is the option of serializing the Hash Table.
- Unhandled Exceptions do not get back to the clients as in SOAP faults. WCF supports a better handling of exceptions with the use of FaultContract.
- Supports XML, MTOM, as well as Binary encoding of messages.
- Supports multi-threading with the use of ServiceBehaviour class
ASP.NET Web Service
- WebService as well as WebMethod attributes is used to define a web service.
- Supports only HTTP and HTTPS protocols.
- Hosted solely in IIS.
- Support security but it is considered less safe than the WCF.
- Supports serializer of XML with the use of System.Xml.Serialization
- Supports One-Way as well as operations of Request-Response service.
- Web Services are much lower than the WCF in terms of speed
- One cannot serialize Hash Table. It can be done with only those selective collections that implement IEnumerable as well as ICollection.
- Unhandled Exceptions are returned as SOAP faults to the clients.
- Supports XML as well as Message Transmission Optimization Mechanism or MTOM message encoding.
- Does not support multi-threading
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