Business Process Execution Language for Web Services : BPEL and BPEL4WS (Paperback)

~ Matjaz B. Juric (Author), Benny Mathew (Author), Poornachandra Sarang (Author) "The traditional monolithic applications of yesteryear have evolved into distributed applications on the web..." (more)
Key Phrases: partner link types, airline web service, abstract business protocols, Process Manager, Delta Airlines, Task Manager (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

This book is a comprehensive guide to the usage and syntax of the Business Process Execution Language for Web Services (BPEL4WS). Two major BPEL4WS servers, the Oracle BPEL Process Manager and Microsoft BizTalk Server 2004 are covered in detail, and an overview of other major BPEL4WS servers is provided. The book contains practical examples on using BPEL4WS.

Web services provide the core functionality for distributed e-business applications using SOAP, WSDL and UDDI. These building blocks can then be orchestrated into a complete business process using BPEL4WS.

Web services provide the basic technical platform required for application interoperability. They do not, however, provide higher level control, such as which web services need to be invoked, which operations should be called and in what sequence. Nor do they provide ways to describe the semantics of interfaces, the workflows, or e-business processes. BPEL is the missing link to assemble and integrate web services into a real business process

BPEL4WS standardizes process automation between web services. This applies both within the enterprise, where BPEL4WS is used to integrate previously isolated systems, and between enterprises, where BPEL4WS enables easier and more effective integration with business partners.

In providing a standard descriptive structure BPEL4WS enables enterprises to define their business processes during the design phase. Wider business benefits can flow from this through business process optimization, reengineering, and the selection of most appropriate processes.

Supported by major vendors — including BEA, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Microsoft, Novell, Oracle, SAP, Sun, and others — BPEL4WS is becoming the accepted standard for business process management.

This book provides detailed coverage of BPEL4WS, its syntax, and where, and how, it is used. It begins with an overview of web services, showing both the foundation of, and need for, BPEL. The web services orchestration stack is explained, including standards such as WS-Security, WS-Coordination, WS-Transaction, WS-Addressing, and others. The BPEL language itself is explained in detail, with Code snippets and complete examples illustrating both its syntax and typical construction. Having covered BPEL itself, the book then goes on to show BPEL is used in context. by providing an overview of major BPEL4WS servers. It covers the Oracle BPEL Process Manager and Microsoft BizTalk Server 2004 in detail, and shows how to write BPEL4WS solutions using these servers.

From the Publisher

The book blends a broad architectural view with the detailed coverage of syntax and practical implementation required for working with BPEL This book covers the BPEL4WS standard and two BPEL4WS servers — the Oracle BPEL4WS Process Manager and Microsoft BizTalk Server 2004. It provides comprehensive coverage of the BPEL4WS syntax and shows how to use BPEL4WS by examples. The book prepares for the coverage of the BPEL4WS standard and servers with a chapter on the web services orchestration stack.

This book aimed at technical architects and developers in the technical design phase of advanced e-business solutions dealing with the issues of orchestration, transactions, coordination, and security. The book presumes knowledge of XML and web services (SOAP, WSDL, UDDI), Web services development (either on J2EE or .NET), and Multi-tier architectures.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 270 pages
• Publisher: Packt Publishing (October 31, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1904811183
• ISBN-13: 978-1904811183
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,352,652 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beats reading the spec, August 28, 2005

By	Gregor Hohpe "eaiguru" (California) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is the first book I have seen on BPEL - the business process execution language. A number of Web services orchestration / process tools are based on BPEL but hide the language behind a drag-and-drop GUI. I found that to effectively use these tools, though, you have to understand the concepts that make up BPEL - scopes, partner links, correlation sets etc. This book likely provides the best introduction to these concepts. Examples are given in "raw" BPEL as well as using Oracle BPEL Manager and Microsoft BizTalk.

I wished for a little more in-depth coverage of advanced topics, such as correlation and convoys, but I think more people have to gain experience using these before we can expect a book to present "best practices".

In summary, if you are interested specifically in BPEL, this is likely the book you want to get.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars bpel by example, April 21, 2005

By	Jeanne Boyarsky (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

"Business Process Execution Language for Web Services" is a good tutorial and reference for BPEL. The authors state that the book is targeted towards current web services developers and architects. Appropriately, the book assumes knowledge of XML, UML, and of course, web services.

The book was written by three authors and the chapters are separated by author. One author wrote chapter one, which includes an overview of BPEL, concrete examples of workflow and how BPEL fits into the big picture. The main author wrote chapters two through four, which flow well and teach BPEL through a running example, along with describing Oracle's BPEL tools. The third author wrote chapter five, which describes Microsoft's BPEL tools. The book ends with a clear, concise syntax reference. While all the chapters provide valuable information, the first and last chapters seem disjointed from the remainder of the book.

There are plenty of diagrams to show architecture and flow, something very important in BPEL. The meat of the book teaches BPEL, something it does very well. The examples in chapters two and three gradually grow in complexity and build on each other. When describing Oracle and Microsoft's tools, appropriate screenshots are provided. I recommend this book for anyone starting out with BPEL or just looking to learn it.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Good Intro to BPEL - Poor examples, January 1, 2006

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

The book really did a good job about introducing the BPEL Spec..saves much of your time from Google. Beyond that, the examples using Oracle BPEL Engine are poorly written and too confusing. After the first 3 chapters, the book chapters stretches in different directions and I doubt the editors/authors did a final review together. The code examples are not working ! This means ..I regret to say 60% of book is not worth reading.