Nine Planetary Differences between SOAP and REST APIs

Here is what I technically feel the major difference between  SOAP and REST. To begin with, SOAP stands for Simple Object Access Protocol. REST stands for REpresentational State Transfer.

Like 9 planets of our Solar system, I list down following 9 major differences that will completely settle down the discussion. So here is what I call, The Nine Planetary Differences Between SOAP and REST:

1) The first of all is that SOAP is a protocol while REST is an architectural style. So, this is a monumental difference in itself.

2) Next is to remember that SOAP can not use REST as it is a protocol. On the other hand, the REST architecture can use SOAP web services because it is a concept and hence it can use any protocol like HTTP, SOAP. Generally, it's HTTP.

3) Other important difference is  that SOAP permits XML data format only while REST permits different data format such as Text, HTML, JSON, XML etc.

4) Its important to note that SOAP uses services interfaces to expose the business logic. REST, on opposite, uses the URI to expose business logic.

5) In Java, JAX-WS is the java API for SOAP web services. JAX-RS is the java API for RESTful web services.

6) Next difference is related to the standards followed by each. SOAP defines standards to be strictly followed but the REST architecture does not define too much standards.

7) SOAP requires more bandwidth and resources. REST requires less bandwidth and resource than SOAP. Hence, RESTful APIs shall be bit faster. But your choice of what should be chosen in your application depends more on your architectural needs.

8) Any discussion shall be incomplete without talking about the security. So, let's remember that SOAP defines its own security. RESTful web services inherits security measures from the underlying transport mechanism.

9) Last, but not the least, SOAP is less preferred than REST. RESTful APIs are becoming more popular. However, there is no near future where one can totally surpass the other. Both are useful depending upon the needs of the software web application or services you are building.

Cheers!

*PS: don't crib that solar system now has only eight planets. For such cribbing souls, consider the ninth difference above as striked off. After all, it's just a consequence of the eight differences above. Ahem!

Success lessons from Marvel's Avengers strategy: A must business lesson.

All Marvel movies since 2008 have earned over $16 billion worldwide. And, Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War earned more than $1.2 BILLION in just 2 weeks! As a business enthusiast, you can learn some valuable lessons from the way Marvel achieved this. Future prediction and long term thinking The new MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) timeline started in 2008 with the release of Ironman. Even at that moment, Marvel had already planned at least 7-8 years ahead, and knew exactly what movies would be released, and when. Marvel teams already had meetings about movies up until 2025, and they’ve already planned out 20 movies to come out after Infinity War. When you think long-term like Marvel does, you start thinking differently. You think strategically, not tactically. You focus on important things, not on shiny new objects. And it’s ok if you don’t have all the pieces figured out. Marvel doesn’t. Plan ahead. Have long-term goals. Focus on long-term wins, not short-term gains. You’ll avoid distraction and stress, and you’ll deal with temporary failures much easier. Do not wish to be successful at each stage, but keep larger goal at aim Hulk is one of the most beloved characters in the Marvel universe. But even despite that, a 2008 version - The Incredible Hulk - brought only $135 million in the US ($263M worldwide) on the $150M budget. Not even close, compared to Ironman that was released that same year. Even if you choose to sell a product that you’re sure will be a winner - and it turns out to be a loser, don’t lose hope. Maybe you released the product too soon. Maybe you missed some step in the process. Or maybe it just isn’t the right time. Remember lesson #1. Don't just run after your dream product. Rather think what people want No, there are no spoilers here. Keep reading. I’m referring to lesson #2. The audience wasn’t thrilled with Hulk, so Marvel “killed” the standalone Hulk movie… for now. But in later movies, Hulk became the audience’s favorite hero. Will they try again? It’s very possible. The point is, if you love your product, but your market doesn’t - kill it. Don’t waste your resources on something people don’t want. But keep it handy. Maybe offer it as a bonus. Maybe as an upsell. (Marvel did that with Hulk. :)) As I said, maybe it’s just wrong timing. Keep a good team and hold them tight After The Avengers and Ironman 3, Marvel encountered some problems. There’s no doubt that Robert Downey Jr. was (and is) the biggest star of the MCU. No wonder he’s the highest paid actor on the team. However, some other important team members were paid very low! Apparently, Chris Hemsworth made less than $1 million from the first two Marvel movies. However, the team stood together. The lower paid actors demanded a pay raise, and Robert Downey Jr. said that he’d quit as well, if any of them quit. Marvel had no option but to raise their pay. Based on how much money Marvel made from that moment until now, it was a smart decision and a small price to pay. If you find people who are worth keeping, keep them at any cost. It may cost you some extra money in the beginning, but they’ll either make you or save you 10x more when you need them.

Be innovative and take risks Thor: Ragnarok is an interesting movie. Up until that moment, Marvel movies were serious action, with a dose of humor. Ragnarok is 180° opposite. It’s a movie full of humor, with a dose of action. Marvel decided to play with it. And it paid off. But notice WHEN Marvel decided to test an unorthodox approach… Years after it was established. When they already had a loyal audience. And when they had enough cash on their hands to cover the potential loss. Experiment with new products, new launches, new strategies, new approaches… but experiment wisely. First do something, then dwell deeper Be honest, had you ever heard of Guardians of the Galaxy before Marvel made that movie? Guardians of the Galaxy was never a mega-popular comic. But Marvel apparently cracked the code, and now knows how to create a blockbuster, even with less popular heroes. Again, check the timing. They didn’t start the MCU with the Guardians. It was too risky. They started with the most popular hero - Ironman - and they introduced the Guardians when they already had a loyal MCU fan base. If you’re starting out, don’t go with an untested product. Start with something that is proven to sell well. Once you have enough cash and a customer base, try something unusual and new. Deal with high-quality product as sub-optimal products will jeopardize your growth You can say anything you want about Marvel movies, but you can’t say they’re not perfectly executed. Scripts, directing, casting, special effects, sound effects… Nothing but high-quality work. Whatever you sell, you should always strive to offer only high-quality products. You’ll feel better about yourself, your customers will appreciate it, and your business will thrive. These 7 simple lessons made Marvel movies into the highest cash-producing machines in the entertainment world. These strategies can help you transform your business as well. The only “trick” is, they require time and effort. Success never happens overnight; it’s always a result of planning, clear vision, hard work, and dedication. Now go, and build a marvelous business. (This article is inspired and adapted using an Amazing.com advert)

How to add custom Ads.txt in Blogger : A must for blogger adsense monetization enthusiasts

When you want to add monetization to your blog and you have a publisher Id, you want to set it up fast. Am i correct? Afterall, why to loose even a single day of your sweet traffic.


But the problem sometimes is that the website you own is on Blogger and you have no ideas as to how and where to add the custom ads.txt file required by the blogger. Sounds known! Yeah, this is a usual problem with many. So lets start step by step:


First of all know that ,if your blog is monetized with third-party providers or you’ve manually integrated AdSense in your blog, you will need to manually set up the content of the ads.txt file.

• Sign in to Blogger.
• In the top left, click the Down arrow Down Arrow .
• Click the blog you want to set up an ads.txt file on.
• On the left, click Settings.
• Under "Settings," click Search preferences.
• Under "Monetization," find "Custom ads.txt" and click Edit.
• Click Yes.
• Copy the settings from your third-party monetization provider and paste them in the text box. This is typically like "google.com, pub-<0000000000>, DIRECT, 00000000"
• Click Save settings.

Cheers! It's done.

If you want to check the content of your ads.txt file, go to http:///ads.txt.


Also, do note that if your blog is not monetized, or it’s only configured to use AdSense using the Blogger-AdSense integration, then you do not need to manually set up ads.txt. Blogger will do this for you. Read more about ads.txt for AdSense.


Now certainly, wait for 24 hours before the money starts flowing in your blog. Surely, you might want to thank me. For that just like the post and share to others who might help themselves as well.

Difference between Nuget and Chocolatey

NuGet is designed to allow you to easily add code libraries to your project. Things like JSON.NET, Entity Framework, etc.

Chocolatey is actually built on top of the NuGet package system, but it is designed to fill a different need. Chocolatey wraps up applications and other executables and makes it easy to install them on your computer. For example, tools like Git and Notepad++, etc. can be easily installed with a command like: cinst git.

To know more about chocolate and how to install it please refer my earlier blog post on W3LC : http://www.w3lc.com/2017/11/what-is-chocolatey-and-how-to-install.html

https://chocolatey.org/packages has a list of all the applications that can be installed.

If you have an open source project which is a library that is to be used in other developers' projects, then you should submit it to NuGet.

If it is an application that users would normally install, then create a Chocolatey package that users can easily install and update from the command line.

Details of different Package manager tools and where does Chocolate fits in:

OneGet has been renamed to Package management. It's core provides you with discovery and installation/uninstallation of various packages. OneGet is often referred to as a "package manager manager".

OneGet is a part of WMF 5 installation. Think of this as the "central concept" in the big picture. Now let's talk about packages.

Packages are fetched through package providers. E.g. PowerShellGet is one package provider for OneGet. Powershell gallery is a package source of of PowershellGet (PSGet). A provider can have multiple sources where it can search for it's packages.

E.g for the nuget-package provider; you can easily add the sources to the public nuget gallery and register your own e.g. myget source so it can be used when searching for packages.

Chocolatey is just another example of a package provider. Earlier it had to be installed and was a seperate module with it's own logic. The new Chocolatey provider conforms to the new framework of installing / managing packages.

So on a more conceptual level; a package provider itself contains information on how to install and search it's sources (sources can be registered/unregistered for each and every provider); whilst OneGet (Package management, package manager manager) works on the level above, managing package providers and interfacing this all for you.

OneGet glues it all together; while the providers itself knows how to handle packages based on it's registered sources.

Hope this explains it on the conceptual level.

See also this nice blogpost here explaining a few things more in detail:https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/packagemanagement/2015/05/05/10-things-about-oneget-that-are-completely-different-than-you-think/

If you want to play around with package providers and sources :

 Get-PackageProvider # -Shows package providers installed on your machine)
 Find-PackageProvider # -Find online package providers you can pull down and install)
 Get-PackageSource # -List all package sources, with it's provider name)
 Register-PackageSource # -Register new package source for a provider)

Some examples of Cyber Security Firms and what they do

This article is a part of my series 'Security is our duty and we shall deliver it'

Following are some examples of Cyber Security Firms and what they do:

IBM Security: Services include- security intelligence and analytics; identity and access management; application security; advanced fraud protection; data security and privacy; and infrastructure protection.

Symantec Software: World's largest security product vendor, largest antivirus (Norton) and a variety of backup and asset management systems manufacturer

Cisco - Products range from advanced malware protection; next generation firewalls; security management; cloud security; next generation prevention systems; VPN security clients; email security; policy and access; web security; network visibility and enforcement; and router security, to name a few.

BAE Systems - It operates through five segments: the electronic systems; the cyber and intelligence systems; intelligence and security systems; applied intelligence; and the platforms and services.

McAfee - One of the biggest antivirus and anti-malware provider in the world.

Palo Alto Networks - It works on Next-Generation Firewall, Advanced Endpoint Protection and Threat Intelligence Cloud. The company’s Next Generation Security Platform was built for breach prevention with threat information shared across a range of security functions that can operate over mobile networks.

Apart from these, there are hundreds of companies around the globe that manufacture security products or provide their services. We have relations with some of the companies fast emerging in these arena and some having good clientele and reputation in terms of Software security implementations. We are close to building one own Software Security product.



You can read and download the article from:
https://www.slideshare.net/toughjamy/security-is-our-duty-and-we-shall-deliver-it-white-paper

Read on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/security-our-duty-we-shall-deliver-mohd-anwar-jamal-faiz/