Question

I’m calling a webservice currently from the backend. However, the page is taking a while to load and I’m starting to wonder, will the page load faster (in a perceived way) if I use javascript to load the data instead of the backend?

Basically will using a REST service to load the data on the client side make the page load seem faster than loading the data on the backend with a SOAP call? Does page_load fire first or the javascript calls?

Answer 1

In terms of the difference between calling a SOAP service on the backend vs. calling a REST/JSON service on the front end – your page load times may be percieved as faster if you let the frame of the page load, and display a “spinner” when you load the data from a REST service.

Your question is a bit ambiguous since it’s not clear that’s what you’re asking.

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Well, REST vs. SOAP isn’t really a comparison anyone can make in terms of speed/performance on a website. REST refers to a conceptual semantic model of how to make calls to a service. SOAP, on the other hand, refers to both the semantics of the call, as well as the data format. REST, by comparison, says nothing about the data format (although JSON is typically assumed – but nothing about REST precludes XML or any other data format).

JSON vs. SOAP, however, is a different story.

JSON responses will be easier / faster to parse on the client side than SOAP messages will (assuming you’re using standard javascript stuff which works cross-platform, and no fancy plugins).

Load time? SOAP is a LOT more verbose than JSON, and requires additional characters to transmit the same values… so maybe a small delay due to the relative sizes of the messages being sent.

Processing time on the client side? JSON definitely has the edge.

Ease of use on the client? JSON – hands down.