Chapter 6. Web Services

Web services allow access to software components through standard web protocols such as HTTP and SMTP. Using the Internet and XML, we can now create software components that communicate with others, regardless of language, platform, or culture. Until now, software developers have progressed toward this goal by adopting proprietary componentized software methodologies, such as DCOM; however, because each vendor provides its own interface protocol, integration of different vendors' components is a nightmare. By substituting the Internet for proprietary transport formats and adopting standard protocols such as SOAP, web services help software developers create building blocks of software, which can be reused and integrated regardless of their location.

In this chapter, we describe the .NET web services architecture and provide examples of a web service provider and several web service consumers.