.NET Web Services: Architecture and Implementation [Paperback]

This book is the result of several years of work. Not just my personal work (although writing this book has involved some late nights), but also the hard work and many person years of effort by Microsoft's .NET Framework and XML messaging teams. Several other companies and talented individuals, such as Sam Ruby from IBM, have also been critical in taking this technology to the public.

But this begs the questions: Why have so many people and so much money been poured into this technology? Why do Microsoft and many others perceive Web services as a huge and potentially industry-changing piece of work? This book can't possibly give a complete answer, but in it I've tried to deliver the most important pieces of information I can about Web services, specifically those built with .NET. In doing so, I hope that you, too, can see how wonderful this technology is.

Most books on Web services have focused on specific technologies and how to use class libraries to build Web services and clients. Some of the better ones have attempted to give an overview of SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol), WSDL (Web Services Description Language), and other technologies. What are Web services? Why do they exist? Again, I can't answer those questions completely, but I can help interested individuals better understand the technology in general, and thereby design and architect better Web services. I've tried to present the material in a way that makes obvious the reasons for their existence.

Of course, as the program manager for Web services built with Microsoft's .NET Framework, I feel compelled to show off a little. I truly feel that I have helped to build the best Web services technology around, and that it's appropriate for me to take you through the major features of this technology. Most of the code listings also use C# and ASP.NET Web Services.

I designed this book to be read either from front to back, or randomly. Although each chapter builds on previous chapters, most chapters can be read alone and still be useful. This book consists of 15 chapters:

• Chapters 1 and 2 explain what Web services are and the standards that make up the Web services world.
• Chapters 3 through 6 are an in-depth view of how the .NET Framework enables developers to build Web service applications.
• Chapters 7 through 14 take a step back and drill into the specifications (from HTTP, to SOAP, to WS-Security) that make up the Web service architecture.
• Chapter 15 delivers a few words of advice about architecting and designing Web service applications.

--Keith Ballinger