WCF vs ASP .Net Web API

93
votes

What are the pros and cons of using each technology?

WCF Web Api is now merged into Asp.net Asp.net web api now supports self hosting.

I still imagine if I want to expose multiple protocol schemas for the same operation I would still lean towards WCF or can Mvc end point do this too?

Also does the new Asp.Net web api expose Wsdl? If not how would the client figure out what operation is available to them?

Arguably the best feature of Mvc is the modelbinder. How robust is the WCF equivalent?

So can someone tell me what advantage does the Asp.net web api bring to the table? WCF seems overwhelmingly the more powerful/scalable choice, imo. About the only thing the Mvc Web Api has over the WCF model is probably ease of development, but that means squat if it ends up being a serious design limitation down the road.

4
wcfasp.net-mvc-4asp.net-web-api
I find the title of this question a bit misleading. The title is "MVC 4 vs Wcf Web Api", but the question seems to deal more with WCF vs ASP .Net Web API. From the title I thought that what was being compared was standard MVC 4 framework (Controllers, Models, Views) vs ASP .Net Web API framework. Anyone else find this title misleading? – BruceHill

4 Answers

72
votes

First, I suggest you read my post on the subject: http://blogs.microsoft.co.il/blogs/idof/archive/2012/03/05/wcf-or-asp-net-web-apis-my-two-cents-on-the-subject.aspx

Regarding your WSDL question - since the WebApi does not use SOAP, it does not require a WSDL, and does not export one. You can use Hypermedia to return resources with a list of possible activity URLs (think of it as a self-describing resource)

15
votes

The choice depends on what we want to do.

  1. ASP.NET Web API is a framework for building non-SOAP based services over HTTP only - so there aren't more transport protocols available using this framework.
  2. WCF / Windows Communication Foundation is a framework for exchanging SOAP-based messages - here we use a lot of transport protocols: HTTP, TCP, Named pipes, MSMQ, etc...

I am not sure about which one has better performance regarding the amount of data, maybe WCF since we can use low protocols. Any comments are appreciated.

8
votes

The WCF Web API primarily focuses on REST implementations. If you are setting up a REST implementation, the standard WCF bits are a bit of a pain in the rear. If you are setting up RESTful services, you will find the WCF Web API a much nicer experience. If you are setting up SOAP services, then the WCF Web API is not your best friend, and you are better off using WCF for your services.

0
votes

Use WCF for intranet/B2B sites n Web API for B2C/C2C/internet sites...SOAP/XML is still the standard for intra-businesses communication n it's not going to go away!!!