Difference between Web API and WebServices
This article will present you with a complete idea about the difference between Web API and WebServices.
What is a Web API ?
- An API (Application Programming Interface) is a software that enables two applications to communicate with each other.
- APIs are a set of functions and procedures that allow for the creation of applications that access data and features of other applications, services, or operating systems.
Features of Web APIs
The following are the important features of SoapUI tools.
- Language independent
- Personalization
- Efficiency
- Wider reach
- Data ownership
- Easy integration with GUI
- Time Effective
What are Web Services?
-  Web services are client and server applications that communicate over the World Wide Web’s (WWW) HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP).
- As described by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), web services provide a standard means of interoperating between software applications running on a variety of platforms and frameworks.
- Web services are characterized by their great interoperability and extensibility, as well as their machine-processable descriptions, thanks to the use of XML. Web services can be combined in a loosely coupled way to achieve complex operations. Programs providing simple services can interact with each other to deliver sophisticated added-value services.
Components of web Services:
- SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol)
- UDDI (Universal Description, Discovery and Integration)
- WSDL (Web Services Description Language)
Web Services vs API
WebServices | Web API |
Web Services provide interaction between two machines over a network | APIs acts as an interface between two different applications for interoperability. |
Web Services requires a network connection | APIs may or may not require a network for their |
All Web Services are APIs. | All APIs are not web services. |
Generally, it uses the HTTP protocol for communication. It also uses SOAP, REST, and XML-RPC as communication. | It may use any means of communication protocols such as HTTP/HTTPS to initiate the interaction between applications. |
 It requires a SOAP protocol to receive and send data over the network, so it is not a light-weight architecture. | It has light-weight architecture and good for devices which have limited bandwidth, like mobile devices. |
It is not open source but can be used by any client that understands XML. | It can be hosted within an application or IIS. |
webService supports only xml | API supports xml and JSON |