Real Web Project Management: Case Studies and Best Practices from the Trenches

Web Services with XML

A Web service is an application that exposes itself to the world, allowing its features to be utilized by any other program through standard protocols over the Internet. Web services can be automatically invoked by other programs over the Internet. Programs that invoke a Web service are referred to as clients. There are several different protocols that are used to enable a Web service to communicate with a client. The most common method is SOAP, which stands for “Simple Object Access Protocol.” SOAP sets the rules of engagement that govern the transactions between a Web service and a client.

By exposing their data and functionality, Web services make it easy to integrate disparate applications that may reside on multiple ...