RE: Web Service Definition [Was "Some Thoughts ..."]

Hi Mark,

I like your amendments -- they are definite improvements.

--steve

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Mark Baker [mailto:distobj@acm.org]
> Sent: Monday, February 25, 2002 9:16 AM
> To: Vinoski, Stephen
> Cc: Champion Mike; www-ws-arch@w3.org
> Subject: Re: Web Service Definition [Was "Some Thoughts ..."]
> 
> 
> > Whoa, hold on a second, this discussion is giving me "what 
> is an object"
> > flashbacks...OK, I think I'm better now. :-)
> > 
> > I think Web Services have three key elements:
> > 
> > 1) Identified by URI
> > 2) Accessible via standard web protocols
> > 3) Capable of interacting with applications and programs 
> that are not
> > directly human-driven user interfaces, e.g. web browsers
> 
> I like this definition very much.  I'd like to rewrite it slightly,
> changing two things; opening it up protocols other than "web"
> protocols, ensuring that the prose suggests that individual web
> services be URI-identifiable, and making sure that its recognized that
> it has to be all of these things, not just one or two;
> 
>   A Web service is a service that is;
> 
>   1) identified by a URI, and
>   2) accessible via standard internet protocols, and
>   3) Capable of interacting with applications and programs 
> that are not
>      directly human-driven user interfaces, e.g. web browsers
> 
> I don't consider changing #2 to refer to "internet protocols" versus
> "web protocols" to be a serious change, because #1 tempers 
> the scope of
> the protocol to those that operate on things with URIs.  For example,
> FTP is a valid protocol to be used for a web service (despite 
> not being
> commonly recognized as a "web protocol") because it operates on files
> which are things that have URIs.
> 
> > Broad? Yes. But I think it's necessary to be broad. I don't 
> believe you
> > can define the basis of web services in terms of standards or
> > technologies, other than the web itself (which is OK given 
> that "web"
> > already appears in its name).
> 
> +1!
> 
> MB
> -- 
> Mark Baker, Chief Science Officer, Planetfred, Inc.
> Ottawa, Ontario, CANADA.      mbaker@planetfred.com
> http://www.markbaker.ca   http://www.planetfred.com
>

Received on Monday, 25 February 2002 10:54:00 UTC