What is a common alternative to SOAP web services?

RESTful services are a common alternative to SOAP web services primarily because they utilize a simpler architectural style based on standard HTTP methods, making them more lightweight and easier to use. Unlike SOAP, which is a protocol with strict standards and rules, REST (Representational State Transfer) is an architectural pattern that can work with various data formats, including JSON, XML, and HTML. This flexibility allows developers to choose the format that best suits their needs, with JSON often being favored for its lightweight nature and ease of use in web applications.

Additionally, RESTful services emphasize the use of stateless communication and the manipulation of resources through standard HTTP methods (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE), which can enhance performance and scalability for web applications. In contrast to SOAP, which requires a more extensive XML structure and is typically more complex, REST's simplicity and ease of integration with web technologies have led to its widespread adoption in modern web service development.

Other options listed, such as XML-RPC and SOAP-based services, do not provide the same level of simplicity and flexibility as RESTful services. WSDL (Web Services Description Language) is specifically associated with SOAP services, not a direct alternative. Thus, RESTful services represent the most common and modern approach to building web