Node.js: My first SOAP service

I created a simple HelloWorld SOAP service running on Node.js. Why did I do that? I wanted to try if Node.js was a viable solution to use as middleware layer in an application landscape. Not all clients can call JSON services. SOAP is still very common. If Node.js is to be considered for such a role, it should be possible to host SOAP services on it. My preliminary conclusion is that it is possible to host SOAP services on Node.js but you should carefully consider how you want to do this.

I tried to create the SOAP service in two distinct ways.

• xml2js. This Node.js module allows transforming XML to JSON and back. The JSON which is created can be used to easily access content with JavaScript. This module is fast and lightweight, but does not provide specific SOAP functionality.
• soap. This Node.js module provides some abstractions and features which make working with SOAP easier. The module is specifically useful when calling SOAP services (when Node.js is the client). When hosting SOAP services, the means to control the specific response to a call are limited (or undocumented)

Using both modules, I encountered some challenges which I will describe and how (and if) I solved them. You can find my sample code here.