An Introduction to SOAP API
There are different architectures available for communication between client and server. SOAP APIs are one of them. SOAP has a client that requests data and a server that responds. SOAP stands for Simple Object Access Protocol.
Any web service that complies with the SOAP web services specification is a SOAP web service. SOAP APIs work well in distributed enterprise environments and are more standardized compared to REST APIs.
Key Features of SOAP APIs
The top three key features of SOAP APIs are as follows:
1- Extensible
SOAP provides a simple messaging framework whose core functionality is concerned with providing extensibility. The extensibility mechanisms can be used to add capabilities found in richer messaging environments.
2- Independent
SOAP API is language, platform, and transport-independent. On the contrary, the REST API requires the use of HTTP.
3- Built In Error Handling
There is built-in error handling in the SOAP API. SOAP uses a built-in error handling mechanism to indicate that an error has occurred and to provide some diagnostic information. This feature makes it unique from other APIs.
Uses of SOAP API
SOAP supports WS-Security which is more good for integration with enterprise-level security tools. They work on HTTP protocols and are mainly used in enterprise level web services. It can be transmitted through different networks and security devices.
Take a look at the following RapidAPI Comic to describe SOAP APIs.