Brian, excellent point, and I'm indeed using that feature in a small JavaScript wrapper for MV that I use. However, this is where you get into the "devil in the details". A JSON query must be POST, even if it's really just a GET request, and once you do that there are some issues with IIS6 and older IE which require some very specific JS calling parameters. The whole idea of web services is that they should be generic and callable from anywhere. In this respect, WCF is better than ASMX. That said, you're right, "received wisdom" or not (excellent phrase BTW), I tend to start with ASMX because it's so easy, and only use WCF if I need something more rigorous (or if I'm afraid of getting laughed at, or questioned by a client who only wants the very latest tech). ASMX is easier to create and use, maybe just as a prototype before you need to get into details about service contracts and other messy mumbo jumbo (not so excellent phrase).
On topic - when someone says "I want a web service", my response is always "OK, that's dirt simple, see my articles or video". But then the more specific they get, the more we need to start going down these "twisty little passages" of detail - and frankly I prefer to leave that for official engagements. (I'm reminded of prospects who say "I need a web site, how much will it cost?" ... I get that a LOT.) It's very hard for us to provide good answers without better questions. Of course when we provide half-baked answers to casual questions, our astute colleagues will eagerly and correctly let us know how inadequate the initial responses were. :) Best, T From: Brian Leach > Note - these days ASMX and SOAP services are getting a little passe', and the > favored approach is using WCF and REST. That's the received wisdom but it's worth pointing out to the group that from .NET 3.5 ASMX pages automatically switch to JSON format if they receive a suitable http content type that avoids the XML bloat so you can call them directly from jQuery, DOJO etc., and are far less messy to set up and deploy than WCF. _______________________________________________ U2-Users mailing list [email protected] http://listserver.u2ug.org/mailman/listinfo/u2-users
