RE: WS, SOA, and the Web

Actually I think we are in danger of losing the distinction between architecture as a practice and its application.  REST is an application of architecture, therefore constraints and properties are central.  However, architecture is more generally a study of relationships, and since we are not prescribing the application of Web services architecture, it is a mistake to begin with constraints when we need to begin with the definition of the relationships.

-----Original Message-----
From: Baker, Mark 
Sent: Monday, May 05, 2003 9:38 AM
To: www-ws-arch@w3.org
Subject: Re: WS, SOA, and the Web



On Thu, May 01, 2003 at 04:05:15PM -0600, Champion, Mike wrote:
> > Agreed with concerns about the .. abruptness .. of the SOA vs 
> > REST material.  I think part of the reason it is abrupt is 
> > because doing a rigorous definition of an architecture style 
> > should take a fair amount of text, but we/I haven't put much 
> > more time into it. 
> 
> I sympathize ... I took an action item at an editors call a couple of weeks
> ago to work on the "WSA and the Web" section, and kept digging myself deeper
> and deeper into the hole.  The problem is that the Webarch, and SOA
> definitions that I could find are so general that they not only can
> encompass almost anything (as the Web does, of course) but can also
> encompass each other, even though some consider them antonyms.
> 
> I think we need to try to get some clarified text into the "heartbeat"
> publication.  I have come to  kindof like the "Direct SOA" and 

You seem to have sent that out prematurely, Mike.

FWIW, I don't think it's necessary to compare the breadth/generality of
the competing architectural styles in order to compare them.  We already
have a framework for comparison provided by the gurus of software
architecture; examine the properties induced by the constraints of each.
This should be fairly straightforward.

I'd be happy to help with that text.  In fact, I think we've got some
of it already, regarding visibility.  I'll have to hunt that down; it's
well buried. 8-)

MB
-- 
Mark Baker.   Ottawa, Ontario, CANADA.        http://www.markbaker.ca
Web architecture consulting, technical reports, evaluation & analysis

Received on Monday, 5 May 2003 18:26:08 UTC