Axis2 Vs. CXF

[Yohan Liyanage]

Hi guys,

I am planing to start a project which is based on Spring 2.0, which requires some Web Services to be developed, as a part of the application (This is not an enterprise project, it's a project for my degree program). I have the freedom to use any technology for my project, when I came across this crossfire between Axis2 and CXF.

I have some Axis2 experience, but no CXF experience at all. On my research into these two technologies, I have found that CXF fits with Spring better than Axis2.

Anyway, since I have no good experience on these two technologies, I would like to know the opinions of the ranchers who have used these technologies and about the pro's & con's of the two.

Ok, lets roll...... Axis2 Vs. CXF ?? Which one is better?

[Peer Reynders]

As you have already observed Spring seems to be more Crossfire friendly - so if Spring is already a given then CXF already has an edge.

The ServerSide: Axis, Axis2, and CXF: Surveying the WS Landscape

What would concern me about CXF:

CXF emphasizes code-first design, using simple APIs to make development of services from existing applications easier (and its embeddability helps too).

(One of my rants that service contracts should not be specified in code).

This explains the existance of Spring Web Services.

Spring Web Services is a product of the Spring community focused on creating document-driven Web services. Spring Web Services aims to facilitate contract-first SOAP service development, allowing for the creation of flexible web services using one of the many ways to manipulate XML payloads.

[ October 23, 2007: Message edited by: Peer Reynders ]

[Yohan Liyanage]

Thanks for the reply.

Hmm, ya. It seems like it's better to go on with CXF because of Spring 2.0. Does this means that using Axis2 with Spring means lots of work than working on CXF?

[Peer Reynders]

Axis2 Integration With The Spring Framework

Any of the frameworks will allow you to achieve buzzword compliance. However if the web service interface to your service is a core aspect of your project, you may want to stay away from the code-first (i.e. contract-last) approach and instead choose a contract-first approach (and justify the choice).

Spring Web Services: Why Contract-First?