title: Why Is HTTP/SOAP considered to be "thick"
body: <p>I've heard some opinions that the SOAP/HTTP web service call stack is "thick" or "heavyweight," but I can't really pinpoint why.  Would it be considered thick because of the serialization/deserialization of the SOAP envelope and the message?  Is that really a heavy-weight operation?</p>
  
  <p>Or is it just considered "thick" compared to a raw/binary data transfer over a fixed connection?</p>
  
  <p>Or is it some other reason?  Can anyone shed some light on this?</p>