452 WebSphere Application Server V8.5 Concepts, Planning, and Design Guide
14.1 Overview of web services
Web services are self contained, modular applications that can be described, published,
located, and started over a network. More specifically, a web service can be an application or
function that can be programmatically started over the Internet. For example, buyers and
sellers all over the world can discover each other, connect dynamically, and run transactions
in real time with minimal human interaction.
Web services have the following properties:
Web services are self contained. No support beyond Extensible Markup Language (XML)
and SOAP is required on either the client or server sides to realize a web service
Web services are self ...