Forwarded message 1
Hi Folks,
I need to put together a business case for using SOAP. I would like to
collectively come up with a list of advantages to using SOAP.
Advantages:
1. Easy editing and debugging: SOAP messages are XML documents. They can
be created and edited using a simple text editor. Consequently, they
are easier to read and debug than binary protocols.
2. XML family of tools available: Since a SOAP document is an XML
document you have all the XML tools available for processing the SOAP
document, e.g., XSLT for transforming.
3. Separation of concerns: SOAP is independent of how it is to be
transported. Thus, SOAP can be transported using HTTP, SMTP, etc.
4. Language/platform independent: SOAP (XML) is language and platform
neutral. Consequently, it is usable in a variety of environments.
5. What else?
I read this in a book recently: "Saying that SOAP replaces CORBA or DCOM
is an oversimplification. SOAP is missing most of the features that
developers expect form a robust distributed object protocol, such as
grabage collection or object pooling." Question: If SOAP does not
replace CORBA/DCOM/RMI then what is SOAP's role? /Roger