Although the specifications are under active development, much of the promise of Web services remains a dream of the future, not a here-and-now reality. Retain a degree of skepticism.
On the other hand, you can understand why this prospect has so excited the executives of every major software company.
Computers already talk to each other, with and without human supervision. The complexity of this communication will only increase in the future. Just as XML helps you manage the complexities of data representation, the new XML-based Web services technologies will help you with the complexities of computer communication.[4]
[4] And remember that in one sense at least, Web services is a proven concept: Churches in L.A. have been holding them for years!
