Additional ResourcesFor some projects, you might want to turn to XML-RPC (http://www.xml-rpc.com). XML-RPC is simpler to implement but also less efficient than SOAP. In particular, XML-RPC requests are larger than SOAP requests . However, because it was introduced before SOAP, XML-RPC has established a loyal user base. It is expected that SOAP will gradually replace XML-RPC. In fact, you will find that the developers of XML-RPC are among the editors of the SOAP protocol. Another alternative to SOAP is WDDX from Allaire (http://www.wddx.org). WDDX specifies how to encode data structure to send requests between different languages, such as ColdFusion, Java, and JavaScript. If you like SOAP but find it's too much work to implement it, you might want to use object libraries, which essentially hide the protocol from you. At the time of writing, you can choose between the following:
As has been discussed already, these libraries take a different approach and wrap Java objects in a SOAP layer. In that respect, they are closer to distributed object brokers . As we discussed, it might be seen as a blessing or a shortcoming, depending on the specifics of the project. |