It has been eight years now since SOAP and WSDL (Web Service Description Language) were introduced as standards to facilitate communication and data exchange between heterogeneous systems. Since then, a flurry of protocols, collectively named WS*, have also been introduced as extensions to SOAP (and in some cases WSDL) to facilitate specific communication requirements and scenarios. The categories of WS* are broad, and it has reached a point where the sheer number of standards is so great that despite a core set being implemented in many platforms, many in the web service community are confused about which standards they should care about, when and why. Furthermore, concerns over interoperability prevail, as each standard traverses its lifecycle of development, early adoption, ratification and update.
In this latest InfoQ article, part of our Java + .NET coverage, Michele Leroux Bustamante explains the most relevant WS-* standards used today, with a focus on protocols that specifically enable distributed messaging across platform boundaries (with a focus on Java and .NET interoperability) - addressing, large message support, security, reliable messaging, transactions, and metadata exchange among the more relevant. If you are new to web services or to the WS* protocols, or you are having difficulty keeping up with the pace of change in this area, this article should help.
Read Making Sense of all these Crazy Web Service Standards.
Coincidentally, InfoQ also reported on a similar work, Navigating WS-*, by Dan Diephouse earlier this week.
In this latest InfoQ article, part of our Java + .NET coverage, Michele Leroux Bustamante explains the most relevant WS-* standards used today, with a focus on protocols that specifically enable distributed messaging across platform boundaries (with a focus on Java and .NET interoperability) - addressing, large message support, security, reliable messaging, transactions, and metadata exchange among the more relevant. If you are new to web services or to the WS* protocols, or you are having difficulty keeping up with the pace of change in this area, this article should help.
Read Making Sense of all these Crazy Web Service Standards.
Coincidentally, InfoQ also reported on a similar work, Navigating WS-*, by Dan Diephouse earlier this week.