Web Services Essentials (O'Reilly XML) [Paperback]

Ethan Cerami (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2002 | ISBN-10: 0596002246 | ISBN-13: 978-0596002244

As a developer new to Web Services, how do you make sense of this emerging framework so you can start writing your own services today? This concise book gives programmers both a concrete introduction and a handy reference to XML web services, first by explaining the foundations of this new breed of distributed services, and then by demonstrating quick ways to create services with open-source Java tools.

Web Services make it possible for diverse applications to discover each other and exchange data seamlessly via the Internet. For instance, programs written in Java and running on Solaris can find and call code written in C# that run on Windows XP, or programs written in Perl that run on Linux, without any concern about the details of how that service is implemented. A common set of Web Services is at the core of Microsoft's new .NET strategy, Sun Microsystems's Sun One Platform, and the W3C's XML Protocol Activity Group.

In this book, author Ethan Cerami explores four key emerging technologies:

• XML Remote Procedure Calls (XML-RPC)
• SOAP - The foundation for most commercial Web Services development
• Universal Discovery, Description and Integration (UDDI)
• Web Services Description Language (WSDL)

For each of these topics, Web Services Essentials provides a quick overview, Java tutorials with sample code, samples of the XML documents underlying the service, and explanations of freely-available Java APIs. Cerami also includes a guide to the current state of Web Services, pointers to open-source tools and a comprehensive glossary of terms.

If you want to break through the Web Services hype and find useful information on these evolving technologies, look no further than Web Services Essentials.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This book is not supposed to be a thorough guide to RPC using XML... however, if you're just getting started creating apps which interact with a remote server over HTTP, using any of the languages, then it gets you started with the fundamentals without confusion or jumping in too deeply without sufficient background knowledge of the procedures used." Verdict: Useful coverage of many aspects of XML service creation if you're unfamiliar with many of the languages. 8/10 Linux Format, August 2002 "This book as a whole covers its material as you would expect. If you are wanting an introduction to creating web services, then it is a good place to start. It assumes a familiarity with Java and XML, and these are covered comprehensively elsewhere in the O'Reilly stable. Overall, it is a solid introduction to web services." Joel Smith, news@UK, December 2002

About the Author

Ethan Cerami is a Senior Software Engineer at the Center for Computational Biology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and an adjunct faculty in the Department of Computer Science at New York University. He is the author of Web Services Essentials (O'Reilly), and is currently hard at work on "XML for Bioinformatics" (O'Reilly).

Product Details

• Paperback: 306 pages
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media (February 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0596002246
• ISBN-13: 978-0596002244
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #295,157 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #37 in Books > Computers & Technology > Programming > Languages & Tools > XML

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

62 of 65 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Obsolete and belated book, July 30, 2003

By 

Prasad Reddy "Prasad" (Sanjose, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Web Services Essentials (O'Reilly XML) (Paperback)

This book is based on obsolete specifications and older SOAP implementation which is not even available for download. The Apache SOAP is already a piece of junk and Apache recommends to use Apache Axis (which is not in the scope of this book). All other implementation examples such as XMethods and UDDI4J are also obsolete as well. The APIs are already deprecated and the code discussed does'nt make any sense.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly readable, highly useful introduction, April 19, 2002

By 

B. Pomeroy "bpomeroy54" (Sewell, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Web Services Essentials (O'Reilly XML) (Paperback)

"Web Services Essentials" provides an excellent, concise overview of the complicated world of web services, and makes sense of the alphabet-soup jargon of SOAP, XML-RPC, UDDI and WSDL (as well as more obscure protocols). With web services appearing to be the "next big thing" in web development, this book is a must-read for any developer looking to introduce him/herself to the technology, as well as for the technically-minded manager who may soon be responsible for implementing web services. Clear writing and relevant examples make this an enjoyable as well as an informative read.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book on WebServices, March 20, 2002

By 

BHUSHAN.THAMMINENI (SOMERSET, NJ United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Web Services Essentials (O'Reilly XML) (Paperback)

Webservices is relatively new technology,but there is unusual hype around every
protocol associated with webservices,say XML-RPC,SOAP,UDDI,WSDL.

Ethan Cermani,author of the book writes lucidly about every aspect of these technologies.
His approach to this book is so planned;he got text book style of writing ie sentences are
pithy -filled with meaning,no nonsense explanations,no unnecessary elaborations,to the point
almost clinically precise.

"A webservice is anyservice that is available over the Internet,
uses a standardized XML messaging system,and is not tied to any
progrmming language or operating system." also "A webservice
is self describing via common XML grammar,and discoverable
via a simple find method".author summarises whole scenario in
handful of words!!
He divided the whole book into 9 chapters,introducing XML-RPC
SOAP,WSDL,UDDI and other W3C issues,evolving security standards
in the first chapter giving panoramic over view of webservices.

In remaining 8 chapters he delved deep into all the topics he introduced.
He dedicated 3 chapters for SOAP Essentials which is needed,
Which is Standardized XML message system to be used in Webservices.
Before this there is one chapter covering in-depth
much sought after XML-RPC;with equal diligence he uncovers WSDL
in one chapter which is essential in describing webservices.
Finally he finishes the book with thorough coverage of UDDI ,
(in 3 chapters)which is essential in discovering webservices.

For SOAP examples he followed APACHE implementation,which is
open source readily available over net for free download.covered
GLUE clearly,under WSDL invocation tools.

if you want to know why SOAP no more stands for SIMPLE OBJECT
ACCESS PROTOCOL;In the plethora of objects still RPC which is
proverbially procedural reigning the roost,this is the book
you need to keep on the bed side or over the desk top.