Choosing Between WCF and ASMX

The following table lists some issues to consider when you must choose between WCF and ASMX to implement a service.

Characteristic	ASMX	WCF
Development effort	ASMX requires a lower level of development skills than WCF.	WCF can require a higher level of development skills because it has a larger, more flexible programming model.
Flexibility	ASMX is accessible only through the basic HTTP transport.	With configuration, WCF service implementations can support many transport options.
Security	The ASMX security layer has fewer security features than the WCF security layer.	The WCF security layer has more security features than the ASMX security layer.
Performance	ASMX has lower performance characteristics than WCF (see the note that follows this table).	WCF has higher performance characteristics than ASMX (see the note that follows this table).
Can be hosted in SharePoint	Yes.	No.

Note

For more information about the performance characteristics of ASMX and WCF services, see A Performance Comparison of Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) with Existing Distributed Communication Technologies on MSDN.

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