The Web services framework

A technology framework is a collection of things. It can include one or more architectures, technologies, concepts, models, and even sub-frameworks. The framework established by Web services is comprised of all of these parts.

Specifically, this framework is characterized by:

• an abstract (vendor-neutral) existence defined by standards organizations and implemented by (proprietary) technology platforms
• core building blocks that include Web services, service descriptions, and messages
• a communications agreement centered around service descriptions based on WSDL
• a messaging framework comprised of SOAP technology and concepts
• a service description registration and discovery architecture sometimes realized through UDDI
• a well-defined architecture that supports messaging patterns and compositions (covered in Chapter 6)
• a second generation of Web services extensions (also known as the WS-* specifications) continually broadening its underlying feature-set (covered in Chapters 6 and 7)

Another recommended addition to this list is the WS-I Basic Profile (introduced in Chapter 4 and further explained in later chapters). It provides standards and best practices that govern the usage of WSDL, SOAP, and UDDI features. Therefore, much of what the Web services framework is comprised of can be standardized by the Basic Profile.

In its entirety this technology framework is conceptually in alignment with the principles of service-orientation. To further explore this synergy, the next three sections are intentionally labeled to mirror the three sub-sections from Chapter 3 in which we first defined the parts of primitive SOA (Figure 5.1).

Figure 5.1. The structural relationship between sections in Chapters 3 and 5.

SUMMARY OF KEY POINTS

• First- and second-generation technologies, along with design-agnostic concepts and implementation-neutral architectures, form an abstract Web services framework.
• The fundamentals of this framework are in alignment with the core characteristics of primitive SOA.