Where to From Here?

The Golf Reservation System is a simple implementation of a distributed application using XML-based Web Services and employing full use of the .NET Framework, the controller design pattern, and Visual Studio .NET. But even simple XML Web services like GolfCourseService could be much more extensive as XML Web services can be called from any device connected to the Internet that can send, receive, and understand the SOAP protocol. Golf Reservation System Client could provide a skin for tee time registration over mobile phones, handheld PDAs, or any other device.

One interesting application using GolfCourseService might be to write a client using Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications and extending Microsoft Outlook to take advantage of the Golf Reservation System booking capabilities already provided in the service. Another option might be for the publishers of GolfCourseService to provide its golf course data to various golf-focused Web sites or provide its golfer data to golf club manufacturers.

The Golf Reservation System could also extend its own Web Service and client application to offer more functionality to its users, by keeping detailed information about how individuals performed in a given round, or by facilitating payment for the tee time registration with a Web method responsible for handling credit card transactions. As is evident, Windows .NET and XML Web services offer boundless opportunities for creating distributed applications for the Internet.

This concludes the section of the book on application development. In this section we have used a lot of the XML-based implementations present in .NET as well as other frameworks. We have built some real-world applications and we have covered many of the down-and-dirty details of XML.

In the next section of the book we will talk about interoperability. This will include chapters on developing for multiple platforms, integrating with legacy systems, and publishing content to multiple devices.