quote:
although JSON transparently requires the download of a cacheable JS script file whereas SOAP is/can be streamed each time the page is loaded.
If SOAP is streamed on the server-side at pageload, that's not asynchronous - it's not "Web2.0" - so you're not comparing like-for-like.
For proper interactive asynchronous stuff, JSON and SOAP both require a client-side script to initiate the request and handle the result, and that's all they require. The whole point of this stuff is to move everything that isn't display logic or data away from the client side, so anyone doing more than that on the client is missing the point.