CODEWITHSUNDEEP
xmljsonhttprestsoap
Krishna Kittu
Krishna Kittu

Reputation: 106

Default x-www-form-urlencoded content type for http request body in web services

It may be REST or SOAP .... why should we use XML or JSON for request body for a web service why dont we use simple string like parameter=value&also=another in request body ( MIME TYPE: x-www-form-urlencoded )?

Actually it works on normal html form submission with php method ( MIME TYPE: x-www-form-urlencoded ) and it is default...

Doesnt it work on Web Services like REST ? If it works... on what reason XML or JSON is used instead? If reason regarding SOAP is that it uses HTTP+XML based protocol... lets skip it and consider only REST ......

Upvotes: 0

Views: 2083

Answers (1)

pieman72
pieman72

Reputation: 864

As per the HTTP spec, you can send any content type you like in an HTTP response as long as you provide the appropriate Content-type header.

The main benefit of JSON and XML over a plain query string is that they support hierarchies and complex data structures, e.g.:

{"cars":[{"manufacturer":"Ford"}, {"manufacturer":"GM"}]}

or

<cars>
   <car>
       <manufacturer>Ford</manufacturer>
   </car>
   <car>
       <manufacturer>GM</manufacturer>
   </car>
</cars>

These kinds of structures are usually very useful for webservices, and can't really be achieved with a plain query string.

Upvotes: 2

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