Have you played with SOAP yet? If so, which SOAP implementations have you
used so far? Even though SOAP is on its way to becoming a standard, one thing
you'll notice is that every SOAP implementation has a different programming
interface. SOAP only defines the format of the messages that are sent across
the wire. It doesn't define the way that a Java application interacts with
SOAP. What this means is that when you build a SOAP application, you have to
select your SOAP implementation up front. There are no SOAP tools available
that allow you to write a generic SOAP application that can use any SOAP
implementation.
So the Java Community Process (JCP) is developing a set of standard Java APIs
for Web services. The theory is that all Java SOAP implementations will
support... (more)
How do you define a Web service? If you ask five people to give you a
definition, you'll probably get at least six answers. Is a Web service any
application that can be accessed over the Web, or is it limited to
applications that expose a programmatic interface? Is it the code that
implements the service or the interface to the code? Do you have to use SOAP?
What about XML-RPC? Or Rosett... (more)
There is an old saying among standards wonks: "The most wonderful thing about
standards is that there are so many of them." And this truism is more
applicable today than ever before. There are so many WS-* specifications,
I've started referring to them as WS-Vertigo.
But there is a reason that there are so many of them. The Web Services
Framework (WSF) relies on a composable architecture.... (more)
UDDI (Universal Description, Discovery and Integration) is a registry for Web
services. It provides a mechanism to advertise and discover Web services.
Although you don't need to use UDDI to implement a Web services solution,
you'll find that a UDDI registry greatly simplifies the management and
administration of your services, particularly once they have reached a
certain critical mass.... (more)
There are many compelling reasons to use Web services. It seems as if
everyone is at least playing with Web services. Almost every software vendor
is building support for Web services into its platforms, languages, and
tools. Web services enable any-to-any integration, supporting any programming
language, any runtime platform, and any network transport. Technologies such
as SOAP and WSDL... (more)
Anne Thomas Manes is a Research Director at Burton Group, a research, consulting, and advisory firm. Anne leads research for the Application Platform Strategies service. Named one of NetworkWorld's "50 Most Powerful People in Networking," in 2002 and one of Enterprise Systems Journal's "Power 100 IT Leaders," in 2001, Anne is a renowned technologist in the Web services space. Anne participates in standards development at W3C and OASIS. She is a member of the editorial board of Web Services Journal. She is a frequent speaker at trade shows and author of numerous articles and the book, Web Services: A Manager's Guide, published by Addison Wesley.
Doug Warren
Bob Snyder
Alf Pilgrim
Per Sjofors
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Data Recovery Services
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