Difference between SOAP and WSDL

1. Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) : It is a XML based network protocol that is used for exchanging structured data between nodes. It has 4 layers present in its architecture : Header, Body, Envelope and Fault. It works on top of application layer protocols like HTTP and SMTP for notations and transmission. It is more supportive than WSDL as it has three important characteristics which are independence, neutrality and extensible. 

2. Web Services Description Language (WSDL) : It was developed together by IBM and Microsoft and identified on June 26, 2007 by the W3C. It is XML based interface definition language that is used in describing the web service functionalities. It has three main elements present in its architecture : types, binding and operations. Generally, a typical WSDL defines the implementation and communication process with XML based services. 
Difference between SOAP and WSDL :

S.No.	SOAP	WSDL
1.	It is XML based messaging protocol.	It is XML based interface definition language.
2.	It consists of four layer in its architecture : Header, Body, Envelope and Fault.	It consists of three main elements in its architecture : Types, Binding and Operations
3.	It provides full support to most of the protocols like HTTP, SMTP, etc.	It does not support most of the protocols like SOAP.
4.	It is slower sometimes in performance in comparison to WSDL.	It is faster in performance in comparison to SOAP.
5.	It is simple than WSDL due to easy level of coding.	It is more complex as it has advanced level of coding.
6.	It provides high security as it has different layers of security.	While it is less secured as compared to SOAP.
7.	It is far good in extensibility than WSDL.	It is less extensible than SOAP.
8.	It provides support for almost all programming models.	It does not provide support for all programming models.
9.	To implement web services, it is used to exchange distinct and structured information in computer networks.	It is used to define different functionalities of web services.