Introduction
A web service is a generic term for a service that is offered by an electronic device to communicate with another electronic device by using the web. It uses HTTP to communicate and send machine-readable file formats such as Extensible Markup Language (XML) and JavaScript Object Notation (JSON).
Both XML and JSON are open standard file formats that are readable by humans. They are used to send information between clients over web services.
Dynamics 365 Business Central uses web services to expose business logic to the outside world. You can use web services to get data from Business Central and use it in other applications. These applications can include Power BI, Microsoft Power Apps, a custom .NET program, and so on. Every programming language that can work with XML and/or JSON can connect to Business Central to perform some logic with the available data. However, a web service can also be used to create new or update existing data in Business Central.
Web services is a collective name for different protocols that can be used to exchange data between different clients. The frequently used protocols are SOAP services and REST services (like OData). Web services are reusable application components that are used to exchange data between applications or platforms. Examples of web services can be a currency conversion service, a weather reporting service, or a language translation service.
This module will explain some terminology and differences between SOAP and OData. Additionally, it will describe how to configure these services in Business Central.