Understanding Web Services: XML, WSDL, SOAP, and UDDI (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Web services, the new way of stitching data and processing resources together to form elaborate, distributed applications, aren't like other software systems. They differ even from other architectures for distributed applications. In his fantastic Understanding Web Services, Eric Newcomer helps his readers figure out what Web services are all about. This book is better than any other book out there in helping readers come to grips with the terms, technologies, behaviors, and design requirements that define the Web services universe. It's remarkably light on code--Newcomer's logic appears to be that you should dig into the details of implementation only after you thoroughly understand the design concepts--and emphasizes definition and exposition of SOAP, UDDI, WSDL, and ebXML.

Newcomer's work looks and reads almost like a notebook, with succinct statements in the margin (for instance, "SOAP processors first have to check the mustUnderstand attribute, if any"), adjacent to paragraphs that go into greater depth. He's careful to call attention to differences among the relevant standards documents, and points out differences among implementations. Graphical learners may wish for more conceptual diagrams, as there aren't a lot of them here. Newcomer's prose is brilliant, though, and it's pretty easy to determine what he means. Perhaps best of all, Newcomer isn't cheap with his opinions and forecasts. It's helpful to read his informed feelings and predictions. --David Wall

Topics covered: The specifications, implementations, and popular trends that define the Web services movement. Conceptual coverage of Extensible Markup Language (XML), Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP), Web Services Description Language (WSDL), and the Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration (UDDI) protocol fills these pages. Emphasis is on how it all works rather than on how to program for it.

Product Description

Web services enable the new generation of Internet-based applications. These services support application-to-application Internet communication-that is, applications at different network locations can be integrated to function as if they were part of a single, large software system. Examples of applications made possible by Web services include automated business transactions and direct (nonbrowser) desktop and handheld device access to reservations, stock trading, and order-tracking systems.

Several key standards have emerged that together form the foundation for Web services: XML (Extensible Markup Language), WSDL (Web Services Definition Language), SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol), and UDDI (Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration). In addition, ebXML (Electronic Business XML) has been specified to facilitate automated business process integration among trading partners.

This book introduces the main ideas and concepts behind core and extended Web services' technologies and provides developers with a primer for each of the major technologies that have emerged in this space. In addition, Understanding Web Services summarizes the major architectural approaches to Web services, examines the role of Web services within the .NET and J2EE communities, and provides information about major product offerings from BEA, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, IONA, Microsoft, Oracle, Sun Microsystems, and others.

Key topics include:

XML facilities for structuring and serializing data How WSDL maps services onto communication protocols and transports WSDL support for RPC-orientedand document-oriented interactions SOAP's required and optional elements Message processing and the role of intermediaries in SOAP

UDDI data formats and APIs

How ebXML offers an alternative to Web services that supports reliable messaging, security, and trading-partner negotiations

With Understanding Web Services, you will be well informed and well positioned to participate in this vast, emerging marketplace.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional; 1 edition (May 23, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0201750813
• ISBN-13: 978-0201750812
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #260,703 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good overview of the technologies, but really technical, January 4, 2003

By	Mr. JKW "jkw" (Honolulu, Hawai'i) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

Eric Newcomer's "Understanding Web Services" provides for a solid theoretical overview into the world of the new web technologies, including XML, WSDL, SOAP and UDDI. For a newcomer into the field, this book is a good start to understanding to what these technologies are and what they can do for business.

THE CONTENTS:

Here are the topics that Newcomer addresses:

1. Introduction to Web Services (XML, WSDL, SOAP and UDDI)

2. XML - Describing Information

3. WSDL - Describing Web Services

4. SOAP - Accessing Web Services

5. UDDI - Registering Web Services

6. ebXML

7. Other Web Service technologies

8. How to Implement

THE ANALYSIS:

Overall, this book is a great teaching and learning tool to the basics of web services. Newcomer does a fine job of describing the various technologies and trying to "dumb" down the technology to describe how it works. One of the great things about the book is the "margin" notes on each page that highlight the definitions and key concepts that he tries to highlight. This makes the book easy to follow along with and helps to reinforce the concepts. Overall, this is great for a textbook.

However, keep in mind that the subject is very technical so if you are not a techie there are parts where you WILL get lost. Overall though, you still come away with a good understanding of what these technologies are and how they can help your business.

THE VERDICT:

Overall, Newcomer does a fine job of covering the various technologies and issues that deal with web services and how they can be applied to business. While the subject is technical and you may got buried in some parts the book's style is still easy to follow. This book was used as a text for an e-commerce web services course I took during the Fall of 2002. Whether you are studying this subject independently or whether you are an instructor looking to use this book for your course, Newcomer's "Understanding Web Services" is a good choice.

Highly Recommended

44 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommended, September 8, 2002

By	Brett Cameron (Christchurch, - New Zealand) - See all my reviews

In my role as a solutions architect, I find myself having to read vast quantities of technical material, much of which is sadly lacking in substance, diluted to the point of uselessness, biased in a particular technology (or vendor) direction, or simply just poorly written. Eric Newcomer's book is a refreshing change from much of the material I have had the misfortune to read lately - it is a well-written work that provides the reader with an excellent overview of Web Services and the use of the associated technologies. The book provides a well-balanced discussion of the various key technology areas (XML, WSDL, SOAP, UDDI), and includes many useful insights into the issues associated with these technologies and where the technologies are heading, based on current industry usage and standards formulation. The history of each technology area is discussed, providing the reader with useful background information. Attention is paid to the salient points, rather than getting bogged down in unnecessary details that might be readily obtained elsewhere. To this end, it is worth noting that a most pleasing feature of this book is the inclusion of a comprehensive bibliography, allowing the reader to readily identify sources of more detailed information on particular subject areas, if required (many of the references are freely available via the Internet).

As clearly stated in the introduction, the book is intended for IT professionals who need to understand Web Services, how they work, and (most importantly) what they are good for - the book is not intended to describe how to implement Web Services using a particular product offering from IONA (Eric Newcomer is the IONS CTO) or any other vendor. It is clear that Web Services are going to have a huge impact on the way we look at distributed computing, however it is also clear that the whole area of Web Services is still evolving. The book does not present Web Services as a 'silver bullet', but instead gives the reader a balanced perspective of the topic, thus providing a sound basis for informed decision making. Much of the material is presented in such a way that it can be readily understood and appreciated by less-technical IT professionals (such as managers like mine that no longer perform a technical role within the organization but want to understand what the heck I'm talking about).

With regard to implementation architectures such as Microsoft.Net and J2EE, the book does not pitch one technology against another, but instead simply states the facts, allowing the reader to formulate their own (now informed) views on these and other such tools and technologies, where and how they might be used, and so on. In addition to covering the main technology areas (XML, WSDL, SOAP, UDDI) the book also discusses alternative approaches to Web Services (ebXML) and perhaps less well-known technologies such as XML-RPC and Reliable HTTP, and what role these technologies might play in future developments. It is interesting to note that the SOAP specification is still being heavily debated, while XML-RPC has been stable for close to five years with implementations existing in many different programming languages. It is possible that some of these alternative technologies will play an important role in the future of Web Services, and a discussion of these technologies is most useful.

In summary, I found this book to be easy to read and highly informative. The writing style is clear and concise, and the book delivers pretty much exactly what it claims to. Wide and informed coverage is given to the subject area, and a comprehensive bibliography serves to provide a means of tracking down further information. The role of Web Services is clearly defined and a balanced discussion as to where and how they might be used is provided. Future developments in the Web Services space are considered, and the inclusion of material on less well-known technologies combines to make this book one of the most complete works on the subject to date. I would highly recommend this book to any IT or software professional interested in or needing to understand Web Services.

34 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Introductory Book to Web Services, July 4, 2002

By	Srihari Mailvaganam (Vancouver, British Columbia Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Getting a grasp of Web Services is immensely difficult. Every vendor has a different version - often twisting it to suite their commercial needs.

I have been working with the fundamentals for Web Services for over two years, and I have been amazed at the hype to which it has succumbed. Some of this hype is justified and it can be daunting separating facts from fiction.

I was pleased Eric Newcomer's book - it provided a relief from hype and grounds for clear thought. Mr. Newcomer approached this book from the ground-up and does not patronize the reader with unsubstantiated claims.

This book is recommended to the reader that is curious on Web Services and would like a book that can provide a launching pad towards understanding the subject.

In this book you will find:

- How Web Services evolved
- The technology that makes it happen
- The promises of Web Services
- Different software vendor's strategy on Web Services

You will not find how to get started on running your first Web Services projects - that information can be found online or in another book.

In this book you can expect to find the foundation that will give you a good perspective on Web Services. Upon reading this book, you will be able to discern which areas of Web Services that will interest you the most. Armed with this knowledge you will be able to read materials on Web Services, immune to being swayed by marketing hype.

Best wished on your Web Services journey - it is an exciting field.

I hope you find this review helpful - please let me know if you have any questions or suggestions.