Chapter 1. Introducing Web Services
To make best use of web services and SOAP, you must have a firm understanding of the principles and technologies upon which they stand. This chapter is an introduction to a variety of new technologies, approaches, and ideas for writing web-based applications to take advantage of the web services architecture. SOAP is one part of the bigger picture described in this chapter, and you'll learn how it relates to the other technologies described in this book: the Web Service Description Language (WSDL), the Web Service Inspection Language (WS-IL), and the Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration (UDDI) services.
What Is a Web Service?
Before we go any further, let's define the basic concept of a "web service." A web service is a network accessible interface to application functionality, built using standard Internet technologies. This is illustrated in Figure 1-1.

Figure 1-1. A web service allows access to application code using standard Internet technologies
In other words, if an application can be accessed over a network using a combination of protocols like HTTP, XML, SMTP, or Jabber, then it is a web service. Despite all the media hype around web services, it really is that simple.
Web services are nothing new. Rather, they represent the evolution of principles that have guided the Internet for years.
Web Service Fundamentals
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