Few clicks database Web API? Daniel Jacobson, Director of Engineering at Netflix, writes in his influential API strategy book that REST should be the default choice for any new API you write today, and Google Insights reveals that REST overtook SOAP as the most popular API style in 2008, and has increased its dominance ever since. This pervasiveness of REST is one of its key strengths; you are not only choosing a technology, you are also joining an enormous ecosystem of tools, best practices and developers.

Benefits of SOAP Over REST. Still, SOAP remains the preferred protocol for certain use cases. The general consensus among experts these days is that REST is the typically preferred protocol unless there’s a compelling reason to use SOAP (and there are some cases in which SOAP is preferred). Because you can achieve most outcomes using either protocol, it’s sometimes a matter of personal preference. However, there are some use cases for which SOAP tends to be better-suited. For instance, if you need more robust security, SOAP’s support for WS-Security can come in handy. It offers some additional assurances for data privacy and integrity. It also provides support for identity verification through intermediaries rather than just point-to-point, as provided by SSL (which is supported by both SOAP and REST).

Begin with the API User in Mind: Bestselling author and architect Sam Newman’s great book on microservices provides a powerful alternative to the database-driven approach for designing REST web services. It’s useful even if you don’t plan to use microservices. Newman suggests that you divide your application into bounded contexts (similar to business areas). Each bounded context should provide an explicit interface for those who wish to interact with it. Implementation details of the bounded context that don’t need to be exposed to the outside world are hidden behind the interface. You should use this explicit interface as the basis for your API design. Start by asking yourself what business capabilities do the API user needs, rather than what data that should be shared. In other words, ask yourself what does this bounded context do? and then ask yourself what data does it need to do that?

I see that this software is using Visual Studio 2017. Do I need a license for this product? No, as a single developer you can qualify for the free edition. You can download it from Microsoft site: Visual Studio Community 2017 I don’t have a license for Microsoft SQL Server. Do I need one? No, Microsoft provides a free download for SQL Express Edition server. You can get yours here. I see that a backup of AdventureWorks database is provided with the installation. How can I restore it on the server? In order to restore the backup file please download SSMS from this site: SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS). Once the code is generated am I able to modify it? Yes, by purchasing a license you should be able to modify the code however you see fit. See more details at Web API code generator from MS SQL.