Intro to Web Services

August 6, 2002

Presented by: David M. Rubin

 Agenda

• What are Web Services? (Definition)

• What are they good for? (The Good)

• What to watch out for? (The Bad & Ugly)

• Where are they being used?

What are Web Services?
What are Web Services Web Services Evolution

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What are Web Services Web Evolution

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What are Web Services Definition

• A Web Service is a URL-addressable software resource that

performs functions (or a function).

• Web Services communicate using standard protocol known as

SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol).

• A Web Service is located by its listing in a Universal Discovery,

Description and Integration (UDDI) directory.
What are Web Services Definition

Web Services Alphabet Soup

SOAP: Simple Object Access Protocol (remote invocation)

WSDL: Web Service Definition Language (service characteristics)

UDDI: Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration (directory)

XKMS: XML Key Management Specification (under development)

XML: Extensible Markup Language

XLANG: Transactional support (under development)

ebXML: (e-business XML)

What are Web Services Definition
What are Web Services Characteristics

•A Web Service is accessible over the Web.

•Web Services communicate using platform-independent and

language-neutral Web protocols.

•A Web Service provides an interface that can be called from

another program.

•A Web Service is registered and can be located through a Web

Service Registry.

•Web Services support loosely coupled connections between

systems.
What are Web Services Web Services Landscape

Web Service Environments

Development
Deployment
Directory
Infrastructure

-Patricia Seybold Group

What are Web Services Web Services Landscape

Service Infrastructure Services

Billing Auditing
Identity Authentication Authorization
Provisioning
Description User Session State
Transaction
Application Server

Management Management Management

J2EE Discovery .NET

.NET Server
UDDI Services
Web Services Deployment Web Services Deployment
Runtime Security Runtime Security

Directory
Services
Directory
Services
Component Deployment Component Deployment
SOAP Description SOAP Description

Development and Development and

Assembly Environment Assembly Environment
What are Web Services Development Environment

•Design and Code Web Services

•Expose Existing Resources as Web Services
•Develop new applications from Web Services
•Create Web Services interfaces from existing EAI connectors

J2EE .NET

Development and Development and

Assembly Environment Assembly Environment
What are Web Services Deployment Environment

•Runtime
•Security
•WSDL / XML Schema Support
•SOAP Support
•Component Deployment
•Management

J2EE .NET
Application Server

.NET Server
Web Services Deployment Web Services Deployment
Runtime Security Runtime Security
Component Deployment Component Deployment
SOAP Description SOAP Description
What are Web Services Directory Environment

• Locate Web Services

• Publish Web Services
• Understand the characteristics of Web Services
(capability, security, cost, etc.)

J2EE .NET
Application Server

.NET Server
UDDI Services
Web Services Deployment Web Services Deployment
Runtime Security Directory Runtime Security
Directory

Services
Services

Component Deployment Component Deployment

SOAP Description SOAP Description
What are Web Services Infrastructure Services

• Separate Business Logic from System Functions

• Bundle Common Functionality across Web Services
• Security (Authentication, Authorization)
• Provide consistency among services

Service Infrastructure Services

Billing Auditing
Identity Authentication Authorization
Provisioning
Description User Session State
Transaction
Management Management
J2EE Discovery Management
.NET
Application Server

.NET Server
UDDI Services
Web Services Deployment Web Services Deployment
Runtime Security Runtime Security
Directory
Directory

Services
Services

Component Deployment Component Deployment

SOAP Description SOAP Description
What are they Good For?
What are they good for? Integration

• In a lot of organizations, the data and logic of one

application are basically useless to other
applications. When an application and its data are
isolated from other applications, we often say that
they are in “silos.”
• Web Services are better at sharing data and
functions. The result is that the “silos” come down,
and previously isolated systems can talk to each
other.
What are they good for? Access

• Web Services are especially good at providing

access through different interfaces.
• A Web Service can have a dedicated client
application, but it can also be readily accessed
through browsers, wireless devices, voice-activated
interfaces, and so on.
• Adding new access methods is much simpler than
with a traditional application.
What are they good for? Flexibility

• One of the more important innovations in Web

Services is “machine-to-machine communications.”

• This means that a Web Service can ask another Web

Service to do something, and that Web Service can
ask another Web Service to do something, and so on.

• In the future, many Web Services will really just be

aggregations of other Web Services.
What are they good for? Application Assembly

• Future applications will be assembled from a

diverse group of web services, aggregating
functionality.

• Reusability is extended to the execution level,

versus reusability from just the design and
construction level.
Commentary

• Web Services provide a common standard

for the implementation of an interface.

• A COMPONENT is an Object that learned its

lesson

• A WEB SERVICE is a Component that

learned its lesson.
What to Watch Out For!
What to watch out for? Changing Standards

• Things are moving very quickly. By the time you implement any
form of Web Services the specification of standards will have already
evolved.
• The technology hasn't yet caught up to the business vision. Most
software is less than six months old, and a lot of it isn't going to
work.

Implementation =
Education =
Standards Update
What to watch out for? Security

• There’s currently no cross technology or cross platform

security model for Web Services:

• Authentication
• Authorization
• Encryption
• Digital Signatures
What to watch out for? Transactions

• There’s currently no cross technology or cross

platform transaction model for Web Services:

• Commit
• Rollback
• 2 Phase
What to watch out for? Vendor Extension

• Vendors are augmenting their Web Service

offerings with proprietary extensions.

• Vendor implementation and sale of products

before any ratification of the standards their
products are implementing.
Who’s Using Web Services!
re are Web Services being used?

Dollar Rental Car

• Using Web Services, Dollar Rent A Car created an interface to

expose its existing mainframe-based reservation system for
access by existing and potential business partners.
• So far, this capability has resulted in millions of additional rate
requests, thousands of new reservations, millions of dollars in
additional revenue and significant transaction fee savings.
re are Web Services being used?

Unishippers – Salt Lake City

• System under development designed with an Architecture that

leverages Web Services internally.

• This creates a Flexible platform for expansion beyond their

franchise walls (Partners, Customers, Etc.) in future project
phases.
re are Web Services being used?

Zagat Survey

• Using Web Services to Expose the functionality of its systems.

• Zagat Survey has been able to reduce the costs associated with
providing monthly content updates to its Internet partners.
• In addition, Zagat is positioned to increase the number of
options that can offer to partners interested in licensing the
company's content (PDA, Cell Phones, Directory Services,
Etc.).
re are Web Services being used?

Colorado Department of Agriculture

• Used Web Services to develop technology needed to collate

and distribute time-sensitive information
• Specifically, they used Web Services to get data out of a legacy
Macintosh system which was inefficient and slow
• Using Web Services, they integrated the Macintosh data with a
Microsoft SQL Server database, so it can be served to anyone
via a browser.
re are Web Services being used?

Government of Singapore

• The Public eServices Infrastructure (PSi) of Singapore allows

different government agencies to share components.

• These include payment gateways, electronic data exchange,

authentication and other security features

• The result has reducing both incremental costs and the time
needed for design and development of systems.
re are Web Services being used?

Kansas Department of Human Resources

• Developed a Web Services based system to streamline

unemployment claims processing.

• By using Web Services they were able to leverage and

integrate ‘shrink wrapped’ software with custom screens to
develop and deploy a solution very quickly.

• KDHR officials estimate that 20 to 30 percent of all claims are

now filed over the Internet.
Questions