Chapter 2. XML Web Services Standards

This chapter covers the basics of SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) and discusses the other standards surrounding XML Web Services. It contains a lot of XML, but no other code.

Web services are distributed applications based on standards. In essence, this chapter introduces the major standards that you are likely to encounter in your Web services development: SOAP, XML, XML Schema (XSD), HTTP, and WSDL.

The Basics

Before trying to understand SOAP, it's important to know about and understand three other specifications: HTTP, XML, and XML Schema. Chances are you already know something about each of these, and feel free to skip ahead if you do. Otherwise, read on for a quick walkthrough.

HTTP

HTTP is one the most ...

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