Summary

In this chapter I have covered the basics of synchronous drawbridges, which are sometimes referred to as blocking drawbridges. Here are the most important points to remember about synchronous drawbridges :

• They can be optimized for the homogeneous case. Homogeneous synchronous drawbridges use native component protocols.

• They can also be designed for the heterogeneous case. Heterogeneous synchronous drawbridges are usually based on SOAP messages delivered over HTTP.

• The same SOAP/HTTP that is used for heterogeneous synchronous drawbridges is the basis for intercompany collaboration, a topic I consider to be a Web service fortress.

• Homogeneous synchronous drawbridges can support transaction flow across drawbridges. You should not use this feature.