| Chapter 1, "Service-Oriented Architectures"). Then we focus on Web services as a realization of this service-oriented computing platform and indicate which specifications contribute to the platform (Chapter 3, "Web Services"). After that, we consider each major part of the platform and offer the insight that went into defining the specifications that govern that component. We cover the messaging framework, describing metadata, reliable interaction, security, and service composition in different parts of the book. Before concluding, we consider two case studies to illustrate how the Web services platform can address both intranet and extranet integration scenarios. In the concluding part, we summarize the platform and give our perspectives on why the integrated architecture we present makes sense and will "win" the standards battle. Finally, we present our thoughts on the future of the Web services platform. At the end of this book, you should no longer feel that Web services has no architecture or that the architecture is hidden somewhere between 150+ WS-* specifications. You might not agree with our choice of components that comprise the architecture, but we chose the set based on the fact that those were designed from the ground up to work together to solve a single problem: that of being a ubiquitous platform for integrating heterogeneous systems to enable rich business communication. |