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Adam Kalsey

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SOAP Sucks -- Long live REST

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20 Nov 2006

"Let me sum up. The definition of SOAP is in constant flux, SOAP is anything but simple, and it is no longer meant for accessing objects-even though that’s what all the tools still do."—Pete Lacey: The S stands for Simple

Thats from a wonderful imaginary dialog between a developer and SOAP guy. It’s in the fine tradition of other great dialogs like Ryan Tomayko’s How I Explained REST to my Wife and the more recent REST Dialogs from Duncan Cragg.

Tim Bray also points to a number of others who have riffed on Pete Lacey’s dialog to point out where else SOAP sucks.

For the masses who will eventually arrive here via Google, Adam Bosworth—who was one of the guys behind SOAP from early on—has seen the light that is REST. His blog chronicles the transformation. Or just read this great summary of Bosworth’s change of heart from the aforementioned Ryan Tomayko.

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