Re: Web service definition

The fact that the WG is on hiatus doesn't preclude continuing efforts
at advancing our work. It just means that we aren't making any formal 
decisions
and we're not having any formal meetings. 

Having a suitable proposal for a revised/improved definition of Web 
service
that we can put before the WG upon our return would be a "good thing(tm)", 
IMO.

The reason that Geoff started this discussion is that the definition we 
currently
have is so gramatically flawed, it is nearly impossible for anyone who was
not party to the "definition wars", as you put it, to understand what we 
meant.

The specific value add I'd like to get to is a definition that says what 
it means.
I don't believe this to be the case at present.

Cheers,

Christopher Ferris
Architect, Emerging e-business Industry Architecture
email: chrisfer@us.ibm.com
phone: +1 508 234 3624

Mark Baker <distobj@acm.org> wrote on 08/12/2002 09:34:14 AM:

> On Mon, Aug 12, 2002 at 07:22:15AM -0400, Christopher B Ferris wrote:
> > 
> > 
> > Mark,
> > 
> > You aren't helping the process by simply tearing down. Suggesting
> > improvements
> > on the proposal would be far more productive.
> 
> Chris, not only are we on a break where substantive decisions cannot be
> made, I believe I am helping the process by suggesting we incrementally
> improve upon something that was painstakingly constructed (surely you
> haven't forgotten the "definition wars"? 8-).
> 
> > I would suggest that we should try to improve upon what we agree is a
> > flawed
> > definition (that which is currently documented in the Requirements 
doc)
> > taking
> > Geoff's proposal as a start.
> >
> > Given your feedback, I would offer the following amended definition:
> > 
> >       Definition: A Web service is a software application identified 
by a
> >       URI, whose interfaces and bindings are defined and described
> >       using XML artifacts. This definition can be discovered by other
> > software
> >       applications which may then interact with the Web service, 
through
> >       the exchange of XML based messages via internet protocols, in a
> >       manner prescribed by its definition.
> 
> This is definitely an improvement, but IMO, it now says pretty much
> what the existing one says.  Is that what you intended?  What specific
> value-add do you feel that this definition provides over the existing
> one?
> 
> MB
> -- 
> Mark Baker, CTO, Idokorro Mobile (formerly Planetfred)
> Ottawa, Ontario, CANADA.               distobj@acm.org
> http://www.markbaker.ca        http://www.idokorro.com