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I am new to the area of web-services. Is it possible to use WSDL with REST bindings? Or should I use WADL?

Shog9
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crowso
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  • REST doesn't generally use WSDL. WSDL is for SOAP. What -- exactly -- have you read? Why are you asking this? – S.Lott Jan 22 '11 at 03:22

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It's possible to use a WSDL with REST bindings, but it's really not necessary. The simplistic nature of REST make writing code to use that service very easy. Using a WSDL just adds extra complexity that is just not necessary.

If you're still interested, you can find more information here: http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/webservices/library/ws-restwsdl/

Also, this question may help you: WSDL vs REST Pros and Cons

Community
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jamesmortensen
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  • @jmort: in what way can one use WSDL with REST bindings? It doesn't seem to make sense, and I'm considering a downvote, but thought you might know something I don't. – John Saunders Jan 22 '11 at 04:27
  • @john: read the IBM article, it details how to employ WSDL 2.0 specs against REST bindings. – jro Jan 22 '11 at 18:20
  • @jro: WSDL 2.0, perhaps, but which consumer of a REST service will know to use a WSDL? – John Saunders Jan 25 '11 at 20:52
  • @john: Agreed -- REST makes WSDL kind of pointless. Nonetheless, it's still feasible. – jro Jan 25 '11 at 23:01
  • @jro: that's not what I said. I said that a consumer of a REST service will likely not understand WSDL at all. – John Saunders Jan 25 '11 at 23:04
  • @john: seriously, it's in the IBM article. Likelihood, believability, take whatever angle you like. I was just pointing out what jmort provided. – jro Jan 26 '11 at 05:58
  • @jro: based on the question and "I'm new to the area of web services", I felt that the OP is not asking for what might work, under some circumstances, but rather what works in general. In general, REST does not use WSDL. – John Saunders Jan 26 '11 at 19:17
  • Well, generating a whole client library for the REST service would be great and feasible if a WDSL (or WADL?) is available. That's a good point for publishing service description. – fredlegrain Apr 13 '12 at 16:21