Microsoft buffed up its Web services push with the
announcement Monday of a technical preview of its Web Services Software
Development Kit (SDK).
Microsoft said the SDK would build on its Visual Basic and .Net Framework,
giving developers the tools needed to build integrated e-business
applications. With the SDK, Microsoft said developers would be able to build
Web services using WS-Security, WS-Routing and WS Attachments, standards
developed by the Microsoft-led Web services coalition, Web Services
Interoperability Organization (WS-I).
The SDK is available for free
download on the Microsoft Developer Network.
“With Visual Studio .NET and the .NET Framework, Microsoft continues to lead
the industry by delivering the tools to make Web services real for millions
of developers,” Eric Rudder, senior vice president of the developer and
platform evangelism unit, said in a statement. “The Web Services Development
Kit embarks on the next phase of Web services, expanding the experience of
Visual Studio and .NET Framework developers, and enabling enterprises to
quickly and easily connect their systems with partners, customers and
suppliers using advanced Web services scenarios.”
Microsoft touted the benefits the SDK provides in security, routing and
attachments. The company said the SDK gives developers the ability to make
XML Web services secure across the WS-Security standard, which WS-I unveiled
in April. Also, Microsoft said developers could use WS-Routing standard to
identify messages through their SAP message header, allowing them to go to
multiple destinations. Finally, Microsoft said the SDK allows developers to
add attachments to SOAP messages through the WS-Attachments standard.
The SDK builds on standards Microsoft has tried to lock in place, as it
looks to make its Web services platform dominant, as opposed to rival
Java-based standards. The most public face of this struggle has been the
refusal of Sun Microsystems to join WS-I, which Microsoft founded in
February with IBM, SAP, and other industry leaders.
Microsoft has rebuffed longtime rival Sun’s demands to join as a founding
member. Without such status, Sun has said it will not participate, thrusting
the standards process into disarray because Sun’s Java programming language
is expected to gird many aspects of Web services.
In June, Microsoft held out a potential
olive branch, as WS-I voted to expand its board by two seats, giving Sun
an opportunity to join on equal footing. However, Sun has remained aloof.
Microsoft’s own Web services push, by its own admission, has been somewhat
muddled. Bill Gates admitted as much at last month’s unveiling of
Microsoft’s long-awaited .Net server operating system, giving the
company a “C” grade for its .Net rollout so far.
