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I thought to practice SOAP API. I know it is a time for REST but I thought to give a try to SOAP. I somehow got Flickr.com API supporting SOAP but it has very difficult documentation. No, working examples are available.

Q1. So, do anyone know where I can learn SOAP. Do anyone has SOAP working example for Flickr API

Q2. Any service other than Flickr providing SOAP interface. I saw Google search api has closed new request for SOAP.

regards

Satya Prakash
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  • Why bother? There's a reason no one's offering new SOAP APIs. – ceejayoz Nov 14 '10 at 14:50
  • @ceejayoz:what reason is this? – Cratylus Nov 14 '10 at 15:03
  • It's a very heavy-weight protocol that is massive overkill for most of the APIs one would encounter in the wild. – ceejayoz Nov 14 '10 at 15:23
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    @ceejayoz:Well, haven't read anywhere that it is being abandoned.. – Cratylus Nov 14 '10 at 15:33
  • How many new SOAP API endpoints have you seen lately? It used to be all the rage. Now everything's in JSON. – ceejayoz Nov 14 '10 at 15:38
  • @ceejayoz:Depends on the context usage, i.e. transaction related or not. May be you have an article explicitly stating what you suggest?I am interested in reading it – Cratylus Nov 14 '10 at 15:43
  • http://www.somebits.com/weblog/tech/bad/whySoapSucks.html – ceejayoz Nov 14 '10 at 16:15
  • @ceejayoz:Nice link.But he is mentioning interoperability issues (not heavyweight as you originally mention). If you fully comply with WS-I profile, doesn't make this article overstatement? – Cratylus Nov 14 '10 at 16:20
  • http://stackoverflow.com/questions/676123/why-is-http-soap-considered-to-be-thick – ceejayoz Nov 14 '10 at 16:43
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    @ceejayoz:Ok, the post has a point.But for designing systems that scale and cross boundaries a good interface definition is critical.Therefore you need a WSDL.Also there are many cases you need to pass extra information, that can not be part of the actual payload.So you end up with SOAP.So how could SOAP be abandoned in the long run?Could you address the 2 points with REST? – Cratylus Nov 14 '10 at 19:52

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SOAP has been largely superseded by REST on the public Internet - as you have noted in your question and has been alluded to in comments.

There are still large users in the Intranet context, companies with an installed base of SOAP, Service Bus, and other concepts that you may well come across if you end up working at one of them. (There are still CORBA users out there also!) When you control both ends of the application, you may have less reason to be flexible using REST.

So if you are looking for useful public implementations you are mostly out of luck.

That said: do create your own services and try them out on your own. Define a service and implement it. Create a client in a different language. Create another client in a third language.

If you are looking for an educational experience, this will lead you down some of the same paths that has lead to REST use in wide-scale disparate systems (and may also shed light on why the public/private has split the way it has)

Good Luck

sdg
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  • hmm! Good that SOAP has gone. Compared to REST, SOAP is really difficult. I once implemented the soap for a connection to OpenTravel for client. Not very sure whether company Id is a must to have or any outsider can register and get that. Need to check! Need to read a lot there as I remember. Need to search for their SOAP connection points also. somewhere here: http://www.opentravel.org/Specifications/Default.aspx – Satya Prakash Nov 16 '10 at 05:15