A web service defines a contract between a client and the service itself. In English, this contract states something like, "If you send me data in this format, I will process it and return you the results in this other format." The format of this data and the communication parameters of these calls are all based on open standards such as XML and SOAP. Similar standards allow a client to often "discover" a web service and its contract and then work to program against it. These web service standards apply across technology boundaries and therefore make web services very attractive for exchanging data between heterogeneous environments. Visual Studio 2005 does a lot to abstract the intricacies of these standards away from everyday programming tasks. This is no different from the manner in which the .NET Framework abstracts "plumbing" code for developers. The intent (and result) is a more productive development experience. You spend less time worrying about how to create a proper SOAP message and more time building business value. Web Service TermsIt is important that developers understand the key concepts and standards around web services. This knowledge ensures you know what is happening in your application. It also helps when you are reading the .NET documentation and articles related to web services. Therefore, we have put together the following glossary of key terms related to web services:
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