🎬 A Brief History of SOAP

SOAP was born in 1998, back when everyone was still excited about AOL CDs and Y2K was the world’s biggest existential threat. Microsoft, along with some other tech bigwigs, created SOAP to enable programs running on different operating systems to communicate over the internet.

SOAP was basically a universal translator for web services—like if C-3PO had a cousin obsessed with XML and strict standards.

Why SOAP? Because back then, we had a Tower of Babel situation with software systems.

Every app had its own dialect, and integrating systems was like teaching cats to do synchronized swimming.

🧠 SOAP’s Purpose: What Was It Supposed to Do?

SOAP was created to:

1. Standardize communication: Different systems needed a common language to talk to each other.
2. Support distributed computing: It helped services interact over the internet.
3. Be platform-independent: Windows, Linux, Mac—SOAP didn’t care.
4. Use HTTP: SOAP messages traveled over HTTP, making it easier to pass through firewalls.
5. Ensure reliability and security: With standards like WS-Security, SOAP offered enterprise-grade security.

🛠️ Soap Code Examples

1. Basic SOAP Request (XML)

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<soap:Envelope xmlns:soap="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/">
  <soap:Body>
    <GetWeather xmlns="http://example.com/weather">
      <City>London</City>
    </GetWeather>
  </soap:Body>
</soap:Envelope>

2. Python Client (Zeep)

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from zeep import Client

client = Client('http://example.com/weather?wsdl')
response = client.service.GetWeather('London')
print(response)

3. C# SOAP Client

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using System;
using ServiceReference;

var client = new WeatherServiceClient();
var result = await client.GetWeatherAsync("London");
Console.WriteLine(result);

4. Java SOAP Client

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import javax.xml.namespace.QName;
import javax.xml.ws.Service;
import java.net.URL;

URL url = new URL("http://example.com/weather?wsdl");
QName qname = new QName("http://example.com/", "WeatherService");
Service service = Service.create(url, qname);
WeatherService weather = service.getPort(WeatherService.class);
System.out.println(weather.getWeather("London"));

5. PHP SOAP Client

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$client = new SoapClient("http://example.com/weather?wsdl");
$response = $client->GetWeather("London");
echo $response;

6. Node.js SOAP Client

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const soap = require('soap');
const url = 'http://example.com/weather?wsdl';
soap.createClient(url, (err, client) => {
    client.GetWeather({ City: 'London' }, (err, result) => {
        console.log(result);
    });
});

7. Ruby SOAP Client

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require 'savon'
client = Savon.client(wsdl: 'http://example.com/weather?wsdl')
response = client.call(:get_weather, message: { city: 'London' })
puts response.body

8. Perl SOAP Client

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use SOAP::Lite;
my $soap = SOAP::Lite->service('http://example.com/weather?wsdl');
my $result = $soap->getWeather('London');
print $result;

9. Go SOAP Client

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package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"github.com/hooklift/gowsdl/soap"
)

func main() {
	client := soap.NewClient("http://example.com/weather?wsdl")
	var response string
	err := client.Call("GetWeather", "London", &response)
	if err != nil {
		fmt.Println("Error:", err)
	} else {
		fmt.Println("Weather:", response)
	}
}

10. PowerShell SOAP Client

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$uri = "http://example.com/weather?wsdl"
$client = New-WebServiceProxy -Uri $uri -Namespace "WeatherService"
$result = $client.GetWeather("London")
Write-Output $result

🆚 SOAP vs REST vs GraphQL

SOAP was king when web services were in their infancy.

Then came REST, swaggering in with its simpler JSON-based payloads and lightweight architecture.

And now GraphQL struts around with its flexible querying.

SOAP’s strength is its strict structure and built-in WS-Security, making it ideal for financial and enterprise apps.

REST wins for most web APIs because it’s simpler, faster, and easier to integrate.

GraphQL is the new hotness when clients need to fetch specific data efficiently.

SOAP is like using a fax machine in 2024. It works, but why?

🤔 Should You Use SOAP in Modern Apps?

Unless you’re building something like a banking app or a government system where security and standards are non-negotiable, SOAP is probably overkill. Modern apps are better served by REST or GraphQL.

SOAP is like that old rotary phone: It technically works, but everyone else is texting.

When SOAP Might Still Be the Right Choice

1. Enterprise Systems: Finance, insurance, healthcare.
2. Legacy Integration: If you’re stuck with old systems.
3. Strict Security Requirements: WS-Security can still beat out many ad-hoc REST setups.

When to Avoid SOAP

1. New Web APIs: Use REST or GraphQL.
2. Microservices: SOAP’s heavy structure slows things down.
3. Developer Sanity: Debugging SOAP can cause existential crises.

📚 References

• SOAP Specification - W3C
• Microsoft Docs on SOAP
• SOAP vs REST Explained
• Zeep - Python SOAP Client