Architectural Health Standards: SOAP and REST for Pandemics
Description
A screenshot of a Twitter conversation between prominent software developers. The main tweet is by Aaron Patterson (@tenderlove) and is liked by Martin Fowler. It reads: 'I feel like Coronavirus related API endpoints should only be made available using SOAP'. This is a pun, playing on the word 'SOAP' (the API protocol) and its literal meaning of soap for handwashing, a key public health measure during the COVID-19 pandemic. Below it, a user named '@antfeedr' replies, 'REST is essential for recovery'. This continues the joke, punning on 'REST' (the API architectural style) and the need for physical rest to recover from illness. The humor is layered, appealing to senior developers who understand the technical history and debate between the older, more verbose SOAP protocol and the more modern, lightweight REST style
Comments
7Comment deleted
A SOAP API for a pandemic seems appropriate. The WSDL would be so complex and the XML so verbose, it would enforce social distancing by preventing any two systems from getting close enough to communicate efficiently
We resolved the “SOAP for hygiene vs REST for recovery” debate the enterprise way - by putting a REST adapter behind a SOAP façade in front of a GraphQL gateway. Now every call is squeaky clean, well-rested, and contagiously high-latency
The only time in my career where implementing SOAP actually improved system health metrics
Ah yes, the classic architectural debate: should we use REST for recovery or SOAP for sanitization? In March 2020, we learned that while SOAP might be better for handwashing, REST is still the preferred protocol for most APIs - though both require proper error handling when dealing with 503 Service Unavailable responses from overwhelmed healthcare systems. At least with SOAP you get built-in WS-Security, which is more than we can say for the initial contact tracing APIs
SOAP for COVID endpoints: the only time I’ve tolerated XML bloat in the name of hygiene. Recovery’s REST - idempotent PUT on /health, because retries shouldn’t make you “more recovered.”
SOAP-only pandemic endpoints are peak enterprise: nothing like a WSDL to flatten the curve of developer productivity - REST is the only low-latency path to recovery
SOAP prevents endpoint infections; REST just aids recovery - true architectural immunity