Difference Between Web Service and WCF

Santhakumar Munuswamy

7y142.2k24100Article

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Vikash Tiwari8y ago
Good article Sir
Vignesh Mani10y ago
Good one
- Santhakumar Munuswamy10y ago
  Thank you for reading my article
Asfend Yar10y ago
what is the solution if database is involved in web service
- Santhakumar Munuswamy10y ago
  pls share me your requirement clearly via mail
Asfend Yar10y ago
good
- Santhakumar Munuswamy10y ago
  thanks asfend yar
Sr Karthiga10y ago
good one
- Santhakumar Munuswamy10y ago
  thanks karthiga
Sr Karthiga10y ago
nice explanation
Santhakumar Munuswamy10y ago
Thanks Manoj Kalla
Manoj Kalla10y ago
Very good article. Thank you for sharing.
Santhakumar Munuswamy10y ago
Thanks Arul R
Santhakumar Munuswamy10y ago
Thanks Raja T
Santhakumar Munuswamy10y ago
Thanks Ajeet Mishra
Santhakumar Munuswamy10y ago
Thanks Lalit Raghav
Arul R11y ago
Nice share!!!
Raja T11y ago
Good one,Thanks for sharing
Ajeet Mishra11y ago
nice
Lalit Raghav11y ago
Great Sir
Santhakumar Munuswamy11y ago
Thanks Neeraj Pokhriyal
Neeraj Pokhriyal11y ago
good article
Santhakumar Munuswamy11y ago
Thanks Nitin Tyagi
Nitin11y ago
good one

Overview

My previous article provided an Introduction to WCF (Windows Communication Framework). Now we will discuss the differences between Web Services and WCF concepts.

Web Services (ASMX)

Web Services are used to send/receive messages using the Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) via HTTP only.

It is available in the namespace “System.Web.Services. WebService Class” with a constructor, methods, prosperities and events.

Code

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Web;
using System.Web.Services;
namespace HelloWorldServices
{
/// <summary>
/// Summary description for Service1
/// </summary>
[WebService(Namespace = "http://tempuri.org/")]
[WebServiceBinding(ConformsTo = WsiProfiles.BasicProfile1_1)]
[System.ComponentModel.ToolboxItem(false)]
public class Service1 : System.Web.Services.WebService
{
[WebMethod]
public string HelloWorld()
{
return "Hello World";
}
}
}

WCF

WCF is used to exchange messages using any format via any transport protocol like HTTP, TCP/IP, MSMQ, Named Pipes and and so on. Its default format is SOAP.

Note: Microsoft Message Queuing (MSMQ) is a messaging queue services developed by Microsoft.

Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) is a messaging protocol developed by W3C.

Code: IService1.cs

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Runtime.Serialization;
using System.ServiceModel;
using System.ServiceModel.Web;
using System.Text;
namespace HelloWorldWCFService
{
// NOTE: You can use the "Rename" command on the "Refactor" menu to change the interface name "IService1" in both code and config file together.
[ServiceContract]
public interface IService1
{
[OperationContract]
string GetData(int value);
[OperationContract]
CompositeType GetDataUsingDataContract(CompositeType composite);
// TODO: Add your service operations here
}
// Use a data contract as illustrated in the sample below to add composite types to service operations.
[DataContract]
public class CompositeType
{
bool boolValue = true;
string stringValue = "Hello ";
[DataMember]
public bool BoolValue
{
get { return boolValue; }
set { boolValue = value; }
}
[DataMember]
public string StringValue
{
get { return stringValue; }
set { stringValue = value; }
}
}
}

Service1.svc

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Runtime.Serialization;
using System.ServiceModel;
using System.ServiceModel.Web;
using System.Text;
namespace HelloWorldWCFService
{
// NOTE: You can use the "Rename" command on the "Refactor" menu to change the class name "Service1" in code, svc and config file together.
public class Service1 : IService1
{
public string GetData(int value)
{
return string.Format("You entered: {0}", value);
}
public CompositeType GetDataUsingDataContract(CompositeType composite)
{
if (composite == null)
{
throw new ArgumentNullException("composite");
}
if (composite.BoolValue)
{
composite.StringValue += "Suffix";
}
return composite;
}
}
}

Differences between Web Services and WCF

S.No.	Functions	WCF
1	It is available in the namespace "System.Web. Services.WebService Class"	It is available in the namespace "System.ServiceModel"
2	It is supported hosting only IIS	It is supported hosting like IIS, Self Hosting (Console hosting), Windows Activation Services, Windows Services
3	It is used for the XML Serializer only	It is used to DataContractSerializer only
4	It is supported one-way communication and Request-Response	It is supported one-way, two-way (Duplex) communication and Request- Response
5	It is supported binding like XML 1.0, Message Transmission Optimization Mechanism (MTOM), Custom	It is supported binding like XML 1.0, Message Transmission Optimization Mechanism (MTOM), Binary and Custom
6	It is supported transport protocol like HTTP, TCP and custom	It is the supported transport protocol like HTTP, TCP, Named Pipes, MSMQ, P2P and custom
7	It is supported protocol security	It is the supported protocol security, transaction and reliable message

Conclusion

This article will help to understand the differences between Web Services and WCF in .NET.