Customer Reviews

Service-Oriented Computing: Semantics, Processes, Agents

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The book certainly has ambitious scope. It is essentially trying to devise what Tim Berners-Lee has famously called the Semantic Web. The means is by the implementation of service oriented computing. Not surprisingly, the book spends a lot of necessary space on explaining the various Web Services standards that underpin Service Oriented Architecture. Like ebXML and Business Process (Execution) Language. The book does this with commendable rigour.

That is the easy part. Far harder is where the authors delve into the fuzzier subjects of modelling and ontology. Thus we go into the Resource Description Framework and OWL. While we are shown the potential power of these, the text also points out that OWL has limitations, as in how it does not allow for constraint reasoning.

But more generally, there will be different ontologies used by different groups on the Internet. With expected inconsistencies. Which gives problems to such goals as more intelligent searching by the various search engines. All these are very difficult issues that touch on the heart of artificial intelligence. It is unclear whether SOC will see us through this morass.

We are using this book for a graduate course, and I've now read 11 chapters thus far. The book reminds me of a compilation of several academic papers (and that's not a compliment). I find that almost all the information in this book I can find on the web for free and explained better. Further, the authors have very little skill in explaning concepts and providing understandable examples for their audience. Our professor has to supplement this book with hand-outs just so the class can understand better. This book may be good for other academic stiffs versed in SOC already, but it is terrible for experienced computer scientists looking to enter the subject.

A lot of the information in this book is self-explanatory, and the tougher aspects(OWL,RDF) not nearly enough information was put in. The expanded sections on logic with time as a parameter was interesting, as well as the transaction protocols, but after a while it was like beating a dead horse and it seemed there was distinct lack of meat to the book. I would have prefer he expanded on the abstract theory and transactional logic in a more rigorous sense and would have spent much less time on the more common sense factors in Service Oriented Computing. That being said, this is the programming model of web programming, and any CS or IS person would be well suited to learn it.

This book is an extensive and scholarly work covering the full scope of service oriented architectures and computing. It begins with a thorough review of the technology involved and then works through the challenges and application of this emerging paradigm.

Be warned - this is not "Semantic Web for Dummies". This is a serious book for people who need to go beyond the basics. As a researcher in software agent technologies, this book has helped me to better understand the issues involved in creating service based solutions. This book is useful as both a reference and as study in these exciting and emerging technologies that will be essential for anyone involved in creating the next phase of internet computing.

The authors cover a myriad of standards that support web services. The text and associated website provide useful examples. The bibliography is extensive and shows the amount of research that went into developing this extremely helpful text. I would recommend the book for technologists as well as instructors.

I really think the book achieve's the purpose that the authors intended. I am actually taking a graduate course centered on service oriented computing taught by one of the authors Dr. Singh. While I have not read the entire text in length(And who of us end up reading a full tech book anyway) I think I can safeley say that for the first edition of the text the authors have done a super job. Personally I think the text attempts and does a pretty good job of providing at least more than a basic level of understanding and comfort with service oriented computing. The authors note that an effective understanding of SOC (or anything in my opinion) can not come from studying the underlining standards alone. Justification points to the ever increasing abtraction of technology. This unique approach to learning a technical subject is quite different and unique from what I have been used to. I think the text really offers a different viewpoint of the subject. I gave the book 5 stars because of that reason. This might not be the only book I would recommend for learning web services but in technology, diversity can go a long way.

Browsing at local bookshop suggests that there is a lot of excellent, albeit soon to be outdated content in this text but unfortunately given the rapid turnover of knowledge in this frantically evolving domain, no book is worth US$100 [hence the 3.5 star rating]. Pity that the publishers did not recognise the large potential for selling this book at a realistic price. I will settle for suggesting it for purchase by my University library and wait for some cheaper used copies. I cannot recommend it for student use for same reason