I was asked by a reporter to explain the "debate" about SOAP vs REST. Here's what I said.
SOAP and XML-RPC were started to make it easy to build applications that viewed the Internet as if it were a LAN. It builds on the philosophy of personal computers.
REST was a retrofit by people who don't like personal computers to try to stop progress in building GUI software that ran over the Internet. Too little too late. SOAP is a good idea. Has been a good idea for a long time.
The distinction between SOAP and REST is minimal. If they would just roll up their sleeves and build some toolkits they could stop complaining about SOAP. But the people who promote REST aren't people who actively develop software. If they were there would be no "debate." [via Scripting News]
