Chapter 4. SOAP

SOAP was originally an acronym for Simple Object Access Protocol. (Now it's just a name.) SOAP 1.1 is the standard messaging protocol used by J2EE Web Services, and is the de facto standard for Web services in general. SOAP's primary application is Application-to-Application (A2A) communication. Specifically, it's used in Business-to-Business (B2B) and Enterprise Application Integration (EAI), which are two sides of the same coin: Both focus on integrating software applications and sharing data. To be truly effective in B2B and EAI, a protocol must be platform-independent, flexible, and based on standard, ubiquitous technologies. Unlike earlier B2B and EAI technologies, such as CORBA and EDI, SOAP meets these requirements, enjoys ...

Get J2EE™ Web Services now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.