basicHttpBinding vs wsHttpBinding

Question

In a WCF endpoint, what is the difference between basicHttpBinding and wsHttpBinding? When should each be used?

Answer 1

Ton of material on that out there - just google for "WCF basicHttpBinding wsHttpBinding".

You'll find amongst others:

• WCF : BasicHttpBinding compared to WSHttpBinding at SOAP packet level.
• Difference between BasicHttpBinding and WsHttpBinding and many, many more!

Very basically:

• basicHttp is SOAP 1.1, wsHttp is SOAP 1.2 (they're quite different, esp. when it comes to SOAP faults)
• basic is - very basic. It's compatible with old-style ASMX ASP.NET webservices and just about any other web service stack out there
• basic is very limited in its security settings
• wsHttp is an implementation of a gazillion WS-* standards, and offers much more features: security, reliable messaging, transaction support, duplex communications and a whole host more.
• wsHttp is the much "heavier" and more extensive protocol, less compatible, less nimble