WCF vs Web API: Top 10 Differences Between WCF and Web API

Last updated on July 23rd, 2023 at 11:45 pm

WCF (Windows Communication Foundation) is a framework for building service-oriented applications. It allows communication between applications on different devices, across computers and networks. WCF is part of the .NET framework, and it provides a runtime environment for applications that use distributed communication.

Web API is a framework for building HTTP services. It is a part of the ASP.NET platform and it allows you to create RESTful (representational state transfer) services, which can be consumed by a wide range of clients including web browsers and mobile devices.

This article will provide a practical comparison of WCF and Web API to help you decide which is the better option for your needs. We will discuss the differences between these two frameworks in detail.

What is WCF (Windows Communication Foundation)?

The Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) is a framework introduced in .Net 3.0 to create distributed and interoperable applications.

It provides a framework for developing service-oriented applications that allow data to be transmitted asynchronously from one service endpoint to another.
It allows developers to build secure, reliable, and transacted solutions that work across platforms and with existing investments.

WCF is a SOAP-based framework that returns XML-formatted data. It may be hosted in different scenarios, including WAS, IIS, Managed Windows, and others.

Example: How to create a WCF service

The code below shows how to create a WCF service:

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Runtime.Serialization;
using System.ServiceModel;
using System.ServiceModel.Web;
// IService1.cs file
namespace WcfService1
{
       [ServiceContract]
    public interface IService1
    {
        [OperationContract]
        string GetData(int value);
    }
}

// Service1.cs file

 public class Service1 : IService1
    {
        public string GetData(int value)
        {
            return string.Format("You entered: {0}", value);
        }
    }

WCF Architecture

The Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) architecture is demonstrated in the diagram below.

What is Web API (Web Application Programming Interface)?

The ASP.NET Web API is a framework for creating HTTP-based services that can be used in a wide range of applications on different platforms such as the web, Windows, mobile devices, and so on.

API clients communicate with the server using HTTP and a data format like JSON or XML to share information. APIs are frequently used in single-page applications (SPAs), which handle most of the user interface logic in a web browser and communicate with the web server mainly using web APIs.

The ASP.NET Web API is an excellent framework for creating RESTful (Representational State Transfer) applications. REST requests are made over HTTP using the same HTTP verbs (GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, DELETE) that are used by web browsers to receive and transmit data to servers. These HTTP verbs are used to perform CRUD (create, read, update, and delete) activities.

HTTP Methods (verbs) for RESTful Services

The following are the most commonly used HTTP verbs in Web API:

Example of a Web API

The code below shows how to create a WCF service:

[ApiController]
public class PeopleApiController : ControllerBase
{
    // Some code removed for the clarity

    [HttpGet("people/{id}")]
    public ActionResult<Person> Get(int id)
    {
        var person = db.People.Find(id);

        if (person == null)
        {
            return NotFound();
        }

        return person;
    }

    [HttpPost("people/create")]
    public IActionResult Create(Person person)
    {
        db.Add(person);
        db.SaveChanges();
        return Accepted();
    }
}

The architecture of Web API

Web API is a framework for building HTTP services that can be consumed by a wide range of clients, including web browsers, mobile devices, and traditional desktop applications.

Web API is built on top of the ASP.NET platform, which provides a runtime environment for web applications. It is designed to be lightweight and easy to use, and it is well suited for building RESTful (representational state transfer) HTTP services.

The Web API architecture is demonstrated in the diagram below.

WCF VS WEB API

The following are the list of differences between the WCF and WEB API.

FAQs

The following are the few commonly asked questions and answers about the WCF & WEB Api.

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References MSDN: WCF and ASP.NET Web API

Summary:

• WCF supports a wide range of communication protocols, while Web API uses only HTTP.
• WCF can be hosted in various ways, while Web API can only be hosted in IIS or self-hosted.
• WCF requires more configuration, while Web API requires less.
• WCF supports the RPC (Remote Procedure Call) style of communication, while Web API supports a RESTful style of communication.
• WCF provides more security options, while Web API provides fewer security options.

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Shekh Ali

Meet Sheikh Ali, a skilled Software engineer and passionate a blogger. He enjoys sharing his expertise in C#, Java, SQL, Design Patterns, and other related topics through his writing. When he's not coding, Sheikh Ali can often indulge in his passions for reading books and fitness training.

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