Updated May 9, 2023
Difference Between WCF and Web Services
WCF is a replacement for all earlier web service technologies. Microsoft develops it. It supersedes what is traditionally considered “web services.” Web Service is based on SOAP that returns data in XML form. It just supports the HTTP protocol. Additionally, it is not open source and is usable by any client that comprehends XML. It can only be hosted in IIS.
What is WCF?
WCF is based on SOAP and returns data in XML form. It is an extension of the web service (ASMX) and supports various protocols like HTTP, HTTPS, TCP, Named Pipes, MSMQ, etc. WCF has an issue with its tedious and extensive configuration. It is not open source but can be used by any client who understands XML. It can be hosted on multiple platforms, such as in the application, IIS, or window service.
In what scenarios must WCF be used?
- For making business transactions, WCF provides us with a secure server.
- Two or more people can communicate and exchange data in real-time using a chat service built on top of WCF.
- A dashboard application that polls one or more services for information and presents it logically.
- Exposing a workflow implemented using Windows Workflow Foundation as a WCF service.
What is a Web Service?
As discussed above, Web Services work in a stateless environment. It can only be accessed over HTTP. WCF services can be hosted in different types of applications. Therefore, unlike Web Services, WCF is more flexible.
WCF can be hosted in various scenarios. Such scenarios include WAS, IIS, Self-hosting, Managed Windows Service, etc.
Head To Head Comparison Between WCF and Web Services(Infographics)
Below is the top 9 difference between WCF vs Web Services
Key Differences Between WCF and Web Services
Both are popular choices in the market; let us discuss some of the significant differences:
- While transferring data from one application to another, Web service only uses HTTP protocol. On the other hand, WCF supports more protocols for transporting data than ASP.NET web services. Besides sending messages using HTTP, WCF supports Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), Microsoft Message Queuing (MSMQ), and named pipes.
- WCF is architecturally more robust than Web Service.
- XmlSerializer is used in Web Services. When it comes to performance, DataContractSerializer is superior to XmlSerializer, which WCF uses.
- When communicating between multiple applications developed on different platforms, we use WCF. Using WCF is only possible for transferring data if we are transferring data from the .NET platform to any other application running on other operating systems, such as Unix or Linux.
- Compared to web services, WCF has much higher security measures in place.
WCF vs Web Services Comparison Table
Below are the nine topmost comparisons between WCF vs Web Services
| The basis of comparison |
WCF |
Web Services |
| Introduction Version | WCF service got introduced with .NET version 3.0. | Web service exists in a .net framework from version 1.0. |
| Protocol for receiving and sending messages | WCF services use SOAP by default, but the messages can be in any format and conveyed using any transport protocol such as WS- HTTP, TCP, Named Pipes, HTTP, HTTPs, MSMQ, P2P(Point to Point), etc. | ASP.NET Web services can send and receive messages using SOAP over only HTTP or HTTPS. |
| FILE ExtEnsion | Wcf services have a “.svc” extension. | Web services have a “.asmx” extension. |
| Directive | The svc page uses the “ServiceHost” directive. | The asmx page uses the “WebService” directive. |
| Serialization technique | It uses DataContractSerializer in System.RunTime.Serialization namespace for serialization. | For serialization, ASP.NET Web services are based on the XmlSerializer in System.XML.Serialization namespace. Some of the limitations of XmlSerializer are:
|
| Hosting mechanism | WCF services can be hosted on multiple platforms such as IIS, Windows Activation Services(WAS), Managed Windows services, or self-hosting. | ASP.net Web service can only be hosted in IIS. |
| unhandled Exception handling | Unhandled exceptions are not returned to clients as SOAP faults. | Unhandled exceptions are returned to clients as SOAP faults in ASP.NET Web services. |
| Multi-Thread Support | WCF services support multi-threading. | There is no support for multi-threading in web services. |
| Performance | WCF is faster when compared to Web Services | Since web services use serializers, they are slower than WCF services in terms of performance. |
Example Of WCF vs Web Services
Below is the example of WCF vs Web Services are as follows:
Web Services
The following code snippet shows us how to develop a service in Web Service.
[WebService]
public class MyService
{
[WebMethod]
public SumClass SumOfNums(string JsonStr)
{
var ObjSerializer = new JavaScriptSerializer();
var ObjSumClass = ObjSerializer.Deserialize<SumClass>(JsonStr);
return new SumClass().GetSumClass(ObjSumClass.First, ObjSumClass.Second);
}
}
public class SumClass
{
public int First, Second, Sum;
public SumClass GetSumClass(int Num1, int Num2)
{
var ObjSum = new SumClass
{
Sum = Num1 + Num2,
};
return ObjSum;
}
}
WCF
The following code snippet shows us how to develop a service in WCF.
ServiceContract]
blic class MyService : WebService
{
[OperationContract]
public SumClass SumOfNums(string JsonStr)
{
var ObjSerializer = new JavaScriptSerializer();
var ObjSumClass = ObjSerializer.Deserialize<SumClass>(JsonStr);
return new SumClass().GetSumClass(ObjSumClass.First, ObjSumClass.Second);
}
}
[DataContract]
public class SumClass
{
[DataMember]
public int First;
[DataMember]
public int Second;
[DataMember]
public int Sum;
public SumClass GetSumClass(int Num1, int Num2)
{
var ObjSum = new SumClass
{
Sum = Num1 + Num2,
};
return ObjSum;
}
}
Conclusion
From the above discussion, WCF service is an advanced technology Web service. WCF is faster than web service in terms of performance. WCF provides better security and supports various protocols as well as message formats. The only hectic area of WCF for developers is its configuration portion. However, WCF 4.0 solved this problem by introducing default configuration settings. It is noticed that up to.NET3.5, the visual studio, provides a direct template for web service. From.NET4.0, we do not get any direct template for web service. Hence, we need to create a web application & add a web service.
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This has been a guide to the top difference between WCF vs Web Services. Here we also discuss the key differences between infographics and comparison tables. You may also have a look at the following articles to learn more.
