What features are missing from WCF Rest Implementation

Question

In this question about using WCF and/or WebAPI, there is this quote:

I was asking myself the same question until I found this WCF and ASP.NET Web API comparison page on MSDN (with my own emphasis below):

Use WCF to create reliable, secure web services that accessible over a variety of transports. Use ASP.NET Web API to create HTTP-based services that are accessible from a wide variety of clients. Use ASP.NET Web API if you are creating and designing new REST-style services. Although WCF provides some support for writing REST-style services, the support for REST in ASP.NET Web API is more complete and all future REST feature improvements will be made in ASP.NET Web API. If you have an existing WCF service and you want to expose additional REST endpoints, use WCF and the WebHttpBinding.

Paraphrased: "The support for REST in WebAPI is more complete and future improvements will be in WebAPI"

Question: How is WebAPI more "complete" and "featurefull"? What is incomplete about WCF? What's been added to WebAPI?

And conversely, with regards to REST, is there anything in WCF that isn't in WebAPI?

Answer 1

WCF can be pretty complicated if you let it but is pretty easy if you need basic SOAP and that holds true even if you need a few frills and more exotic transport, authentication or protocol options. It's also good because you get the interface described (if you want) via WSDL. You won't get that with WebAPI but that's a REST vs SOAP thing.

REST/Web API is also easy enough but, in my opinion at least it's actually harder than WCF in a few ways. There's a lot of method annotations, mark up, magic text values interpreted to methods, use of reflection etc. that makes it a pain to follow if you change names and stuff. There's also no WSDL equivalent so you have to somehow already know the methods and structures.

Horses for courses. Personally I use REST from browser to DMZ website AJAX then WCF for website UI to the services within the LAN.

Browser<---->REST<----->Website<---->WCF<------->ServiceLayer<---->DB, other things.

If I had to pick one and one only it would be REST simply because it fits the browser side better. I don't though, so I use WCF for the back-end because it gives added simplicity and type safety. That may be a function of my limited knowledge and not generally true.