WebDAV:
- Adds 7 new HTTP methods
- Natively understands folders as
"collections"
- Clients manipulate and control
namespace
- Clients can "parse" URIs to apply
semantics of hierarchy
- Supports locking of entire
hierarchies
- Natively supports relocating and
copying document to a different folder
- Does not separate modifiable
resources from read-only view of resources
AtomPub:
- No new HTTP methods
- Natively understands listings as
"feeds" and modifiable listings as "collections"
- Servers control namespace, clients
can make suggestions.
- Clients can navigate to URIs
identified in hypertext but not construct these URIs
- Natively supports only optimistic
concurrency control of single resources
- Separates view-only resources from
their underlying modifiable resources.
Bottom line is "use WebDAV if you can". AtomPub is a
simpler technique, but it is also less feature rich. Of course,
extensions and other such things will add back some of the
features over time, if people like the lightweight foundation
of AtomPub.