Posted by Marie Poppins on February 6, 2020 in Software
Create and deploy your REST Web API in seconds, zero coding required? Since REST utilizes CRUD (Create, Retrieve, Update, and Delete), it is very easy to understand whether you are just starting out as a developer or have years of experience. It can be reused with different projects which saves time as well. It’s also very popular and according to Cloud Elements’ 2017 State of API Integration report, 83 percent of APIs now use REST. Here’s an article which goes into more depth but these are the highlights.
SOAP’s standard HTTP protocol makes it easier for it to operate across firewalls and proxies without modifications to the SOAP protocol itself. But because it uses the complex XML format, it tends to be slower compared to middleware such as ICE and COBRA. Additionally, while it’s rarely needed, some use cases require greater transactional reliability than what can be achieved with HTTP (which limits REST in this capacity). If you need ACID-compliant transactions, SOAP is the way to go. In some cases, designing SOAP services can actually be less complex compared to REST. For web services that support complex operations, requiring content and context to be maintained, designing a SOAP service requires less coding in the application layer for transactions, security, trust, and other elements.
However, there are different opinions about if you should use links, or not… Vinay Sahni writes in his excellent blog post Best Practices for Designing a Pragmatic RESTful API that links are a good idea, but we are not ready to use them yet. On the other hand, the RESTful maturity model says that when you start using links you have reached the highest level of REST maturity. So what to do? Well, Dr. Roy Fielding, an expert on software architectures and the inventor of REST architectural style, flatly said on his blog that if you don’t use links it ain’t REST services, and he kindly encourages you to use another buzz word for your API!
I see that this software is using Visual Studio 2017. Do I need a license for this product? No, as a single developer you can qualify for the free edition. You can download it from Microsoft site: Visual Studio Community 2017 I don’t have a license for Microsoft SQL Server. Do I need one? No, Microsoft provides a free download for SQL Express Edition server. You can get yours here. I see that a backup of AdventureWorks database is provided with the installation. How can I restore it on the server? In order to restore the backup file please download SSMS from this site: SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS). Once the code is generated am I able to modify it? Yes, by purchasing a license you should be able to modify the code however you see fit. See additional details on Web API code generator from MS SQL.