CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c#web-services
P.Brian.Mackey
P.Brian.Mackey

Reputation: 44275

C# - Can WebMethodAttribute adversely effect performance?

I just noticed my Excel service running much faster. I'm not sure if there is an environmental condition going on. I did make a change to the method. Where before it was

class WebServices{
[ WebMethod( /*...*/) ]
public string Method(){}
}

Now its attribute is removed and the method moved into another class

class NotWebService {
public string Method(){}
}

But, I did this because the Method is not called or used as a service. Instead it was called via

WebServices service = new WebServices();
service.Method();

and inside the same assembly. Now when I call the method

NotWebService notService = new NotWebService();
notService.Method();

The response time appears to have gone up. Does the WebMethodAttribute have the potential to slow local calls?

Upvotes: 5

Views: 258

Answers (2)

Kevin Cathcart
Kevin Cathcart

Reputation: 10108

I know this is an old question, but to avoid misinformation I feel the need to answer it anyway.

I disagree with wacdany's assessment.

A method marked as a webmethod should have no additional overhead if called directly as a method, rather than via HTTP. After all, it compiles to exactly the same intermediate language, other than the presence of a custom attribute.

Now adding a custom attribute can impact performace if it is one of the ones that is special to the compiler or runtime. WebMethodAttibute is neither.

I would next consider whether there is any special overhead to constructing the webservice object. If you have added a constructor there might be some, but by default there is no real overhead, since the constuctors of the base classes are trivial.

Therefore if you really were calling the method directly, there should be no real overhead, despite it also being accesable as a web service action. If you experienced a significant difference, it would be wise to verify if you were constructing the real WebServices class, and not somehow inadvetently using a web service proxy, perhaps due to adding a web service reference to your project.

Upvotes: 0

wacdany
wacdany

Reputation: 1001

Indeed the WebMethod attribute adds a lot of functionality in order to expose the method through a XML WebService.

Part of the functionality that causes overhead are the following features considered as part of the configurable stuff for a web method:

  • BufferResponse
  • CacheDuration
  • Session Handling
  • Transaction Handling

For more information just check the WebMethod attribute documentation

Regards,

Upvotes: 2

Related Questions