RE: Is This a Web Service?

Here's my $0.02c.

Before trying to define a web service would it make sense to describe (and
even, perhaps, agree) the features and properties of what we think is a web
service. Here's a few that I can think of for starters ...

SOME GENERAL DEFINITIONS ...
1. Standards based. The web service uses a well defined and limited set of
standards to help ensure interoperability between implementations built
using different technology.

2. Application-to-Application. Web services facilitate the direct
interoperable communication between applications using messages.

3. Formal definitions. A formal definition of how to interact with a web
service exists that allows an application to build an interoperable solution
without needing any further information.

SOME MORE SPECIFIC DEFINITIONS ...
4. XML Based. Uses XML to specify: a) definitions of services and b)
metadata about messages sent between applications.

5. SOAP based. SOAP is used to record metadata about messages.

I know this list is NOT complete, it almost certainly is not correct and I
am absolutely certain that not everyone will agree with it ;) ... for
example must web services be interoperable and standards based? I think so,
but I'm not sure everyone else would agree.

So is this an approach that would help us come to a proper resolution?

David

-----Original Message-----
From: Cutler, Roger (RogerCutler) [mailto:RogerCutler@ChevronTexaco.com]
Sent: Tuesday, April 15, 2003 8:39 AM
To: Jim Webber; www-ws-arch@w3.org; www-ws-arch-request@w3.org
Subject: RE: Is This a Web Service?



I would be a lot happier about requiring SOAP than WSDL because that
would include ebXML, and I would be extremely unhappy if we put that
outside the entire WS fence.  I still think my simple example is a Web
service, but would be willing to join a consensus that it is not.  I
don't think it's a real big deal either way.

-----Original Message-----
From: Jim Webber [mailto:jim.webber@arjuna.com] 
Sent: Tuesday, April 15, 2003 10:24 AM
To: www-ws-arch@w3.org; www-ws-arch-request@w3.org
Subject: RE: Is This a Web Service?



Roger:

> Do other people think that if it doesn't use WSDL it's not a
> Web service?  I personally don't like this at all.

Nor do I, but then I have the seemingly contrarian view that SOAP is
implicitly involved :-) (and not necessarily anything to do with the
Web).

While I can appreciate that this group does not necessarily have to have
a commercially-facing outlook, we are at risk of marginalisation if the
architecture fragments into X different flavours of Web services. 

Jim