Introduction

WCF (Windows Communication Foundation) and Web API are both technologies used for building distributed systems, but they differ in a few key ways.

• WCF is a comprehensive framework for building distributed applications, which allows developers to build and consume services using a variety of different protocols, such as HTTP, TCP, and Named Pipes. WCF provides a lot of functionality out-of-the-box, including security, reliability, and transaction support. It is typically used to build SOAP-based services and supports a wide range of communication scenarios.

• Web API, on the other hand, is a framework for building HTTP services that can be consumed by a variety of clients, including web browsers and mobile devices. Web API is based on the REST (Representational State Transfer) architectural style and focuses on HTTP as the primary communication protocol. It provides a lightweight and flexible framework for building APIs that can be consumed by a variety of clients, including mobile devices and web browsers. Web API is typically used to build RESTful services that expose resources and actions.

In summary, WCF is a more comprehensive framework that supports a wider range of communication scenarios and protocols, whereas Web API is focused on building lightweight, HTTP-based services that can be consumed by a variety of clients. The choice between WCF and Web API depends on the specific requirements of the project and the communication scenarios that need to be supported.