Java J2ee Planet

What are web services? A web service is a business function that is self-contained and operates over the internet. The W3C defined web service as "a software system designed to support interoperable machine-to-machine interaction over a network". XML is the base for the web services. They communicate using open protocols. Web services are more frequently like Web APIs. These services accessibility can be from internet. A remote system can host these services for different web services. A web service can convert a stand alone / desktop application into a web based / web application. A web services are published or found and utilized through the internet. The web services works on the XML + HTTP platform. Explain each web service technologies - SOAP, WSDL, UDDI, eBXML and JAX pack.

Basically Web services mitigate the application integration crisis. It helps integrating applications at a significantly lower price point than any other integration technology. It’s a new kind of middleware based on XML and the Web. XML and the Web help solve the challenges associated with traditional application-to-application integration like heterogeneity. They are platform and language independent. Web Services has following advantages: 1.      Exposing your API onto a network Connecting Different Applications 2.      Low Cost of communication 3.      Support for Loosely Coupled Applications 4.      Web Services are Self Describing using WSDL 5.      Automatic Discovery using UDDI 6.      Business Opportunity to grow your business

In simple words this is a way for describing available Web services components. It allows Different web Services to register with an internet Directory that helps to advertise web services So one can find another service here and can use that. It is usually done with XML and HTTPS.

SOA has become a de-facto standard for system development and integration of new with existing legacy solutions running and supporting complex business processes. SOA, as IT world has always a fancy term for any new technology,elaborates to Serivce Oriented Architecture, is not a new term and has been around with emergence of webservices. In order to understand SOA, we must first understand what a   webservice   means, which is sometimes referred as crux of SOA,not always though.A system does not necessarily need to use web services and all related standards to be "service-oriented." For example, some service oriented systems have been implemented using Corba,DCOM,RPC, Jini and REST.A webservice is defined by a set of processes over a network which is a manifestation of some physical entities like databases,devices,programs.