Chapter 11. ASP.NET and Web Services

I l @ ve RuBoard

A Web Service is an application that delivers a service across the Internet using the standards and technologies defined in the Web Services architecture. After such services have been written, they can be utilized (consumed) by a client application written in any language on any platform as long as it has access to the appropriate client-side versions of these technologies. In addition, a Web Service can be published in a Web Services directory and queried using a standard discovery protocol. These directories are designed to provide potential consumers of Web Services with an easy way to locate vendors that provide exactly the services they require.

In this chapter you will

• Review some of the previous generation technologies that the Web Services architecture builds upon to better understand the problems that Web Services are meant to overcome .

• Examine each major specification and technology that together comprise the Web Services architecture.

• Start building your own Web Services and the clients that will consume them.

I l @ ve RuBoard