When should a web service not be used?

Question

Using a web service is often an excellent architectural approach. And, with the advent of WCF in .Net, it\'s getting even better.

But, in my experience, some people

Answer 1

Nick Harrison, a brilliant developer in Charlotte, suggested these scenarios where using a web service makes sense:

• On a Web farm, where there are multiple web servers hosting website(s), all pointing to web service(s) running on another web server. This allows for distributing the load over multiple servers.
• Client/server, where Windows forms apps can call a web service.
• Cross platform
• Passing through a firewall