Before you begin to develop a Microsoft Windows HTTP Services (WinHTTP) application, you must first decide whether to use the C/C++ API or the COM interface. The following table summarizes the advantages and disadvantages associated with each of these approaches.
| Advantage or disadvantage |
C/C++ API |
COM interface |
| Advantages |
- Responses can be processed in chunks, which is more efficient.
- POST operations can also be processed in chunks, speeding processing time.
- AutoProxy support.
- Access to the full feature set of WinHTTP.
- Binary data can easily be handled.
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- Creating an application is easy and requires fewer lines of code than the C/C++ API.
- The interface can be used by scripting languages.
|
| Disadvantages |
- Processing is more complex.
- The C/C++ API requires more steps than the COM interface to perform the same actions.
- Setting up a request takes more code.
|
- The COM interface does not provide access to the full feature set of WinHTTP.
- It is difficult to handle binary data types in some scripting languages, such as VBScript and JScript.
- The COM interface does not support AutoProxy.
- Applications must use the COM APARTMENT_THREADED model.
- Before a response can begin being processed, the entire response must first be received and buffered.
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