I'm developing an application, in iOS, that is required to connect to my Windows Server to poll for new data, update, etc. As a seasoned C# developer, my first instinct is to start a new project in Visual Studio and select Web Service, letting my bias (and comfort level) dictate the service layer of my application.

However, I don't want to be biased, and I don't base my decision on a service which I am very familiar with, at the cost of performance.

• I would like to know what other developers have had success using, and if there is a default standard for iOS service layer development?
• Are there protocols that are easier to consume than others within iOS?
• Better ones for the size and/or compression of data?
• Is there anything wrong with using SOAP?

I know it's "big" in comparison to protocols like JSON.