4.7. Inside Web Services

4.7.1. SOAP Architecture

This section discusses the characteristics of the SOAP architecture, their architecture implications, and the outlook of the technology. W3C's XML Protocol working group is currently incorporating SOAP 1.2 as part of the new XML Protocol. Details can be referenced at http://www.w3.org/2000/xp/Group/.

Characteristics. Applications built on the SOAP architecture share the following characteristics:

  • They are built on loosely-coupled message-based architecture.

  • They have two modes of communication: synchronous (request–reply, RPC), and asynchronous (document, one-way).

  • The transport and message levels are decoupled.

SOAP 1.2 does not mandate SOAPAction in the HTTP header; thus the SOAP message can be ...

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