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I am totally confused between WCF and ASMX web services. I have used a lot of web services in my earlier stage, and now there is this new thing introduced called WCF. I can still create WCF that function as a web service. I think there will be more stuff in WCF.
What are the differences between WCF and Web services? When should each one be used?
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Simple and basic difference is that ASMX web service is designed to send and receive messages using SOAP over HTTP only. While WCF service can exchange messages using any format (SOAP is default) over any transport protocol (HTTP, TCP/IP, MSMQ, NamedPipes etc).
Attributes − WCF service is defined by ServiceContract and OperationContract attributes, whereas a web service is defined by WebService and WebMethod attributes. Protocols − WCF supports a range of protocols, i.e., HTTP, Named Pipes, TCP, and MSMQ, whereas a web service only supports HTTP protocol.
WCF completely replaces ASMX web services. ASMX is the old way to do web services and WCF is the current way to do web services. All new SOAP web service development, on the client or the server, should be done using WCF.
What is an ASMX file? A file with . asmx extensions is an ASP.NET Web Service file that provides communication between two objects over the internet using the Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP). It is deployed as a service on the Windows-based Web Server to process incoming request and return the response.
Keith Elder nicely compares ASMX to WCF here. Check it out.
Another comparison of ASMX and WCF can be found here - I don't 100% agree with all the points there, but it might give you an idea.
WCF is basically "ASMX on stereoids" - it can be all that ASMX could - plus a lot more!.
ASMX is:
WCF can be:
In short: WCF is here to replace ASMX fully.
Check out the WCF Developer Center on MSDN.
Update: link seems to be dead - try this: What Is Windows Communication Foundation?
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