Debate and uncertainty about an important specification for Web services
“The rest, however, is still up for contention and it’s not clear how those
(W3C) released SOAP Version 1.2 as a recommendation, officially making it a
standard.
The standard, designed to enable the exchange of XML-based information
between computers in a decentralized, distributed environment, is crucial to
the advancement of Web services, experts say. This is because secure, fluid
data transport is vitally important to modern computing, at a time when much
of it occurs over the Web.
Because XML
challenge is for the sender and the receiver of messages to agree on whether
the transfer is to occur between software programs, machines, or
organizations. That is what SOAP 1.2 offers.
The passage of SOAP 1.2 brings closure to a contentious issue that sprouted last year when two firms, webMethods and Epicentric, said they
were concerned SOAP 1.2 might feature technology they owned copyrights to.
Epicentric renounced its position while webMethods had yet to ever formally
reconcile its position on the matter, although webMethods officially supports SOAP 1.2
The W3C’s XML protocol working group has worked on both XML protocol
requirements and the SOAP 1.2, using the W3C Note SOAP 1.1 as a starting
point, since September 2000. The group, whose members include IBM,
Microsoft, Sun Microsystems, and BEA systems, has produced multiple drafts,
received much feedback from developers, and identified interoperable
implementations, en route passing the spec. The group resolved over 400
technical and editorial issues raised in public review of SOAP 1.1 and the
resulting SOAP Version 1.2.
“Web services customers and developers alike demand an XML-based Web
services protocol that powers the full range of applications and Web
technologies they can imagine using,” explained Tim Berners-Lee, W3C
Director. “Now that SOAP Version 1.2 is here, they have it.”
Industry experts praised the passage of SOAP 1.2, with an eye toward the
future.
“With all the sturm and drang over the details of some of the newer Web
services specifications, it’s always nice to take a moment and reflect upon
the fact that yes, core Web Services standards like SOAP are maturing,” said
ZapThink Senior Analyst Jason Bloomberg, whose firm researches XML and Web
services. “We are making real progress in establishing the ground rules for
standards-based computing. It’s time for the industry to take a brief moment
to pat itself on the back, and then get back to work.”
Zapthink Senior Analyst Ronald Schmelzer summed up his feeling on the
ratification of SOAP 1.2.
“Well, it’s definitely good that SOAP 1.2 has been “put to bed” since it’s
the foundation for most of the activity going on right now in Web Services
and SOAP,” Schmelzer said. “But it also signals that at least one part of the Web Services
market has started to mature. SOAP 1.2 is a fairly complete, mature, and
well-established protocol. While there might continue to be development on
additional versions of SOAP, this latest version may well end up being the
version of the protocol that has the greatest longevity. Certainly, there no
longer is any clamor for additional revisions. So could it finally be that
one part of the Web Services stack has finally solidified?”
What’s next for the W3C and Web services? Schmelzer said he next expects two
companion standards of SOAP, WSDL
solidify soon, and then parts of the security stack.
specs will sort out, but we can safely guess that BPEL and WS-Security will
probably get to a stable and well-adopted state fairly soon.”
While the standards is described in developer’s parlance as a lightweight
protocol, the documentation on it is anything but, consisting of the SOAP Version 1.2
Primer, SOAP Version 1.2
Messaging Framework, SOAP Version 1.2
Adjuncts, and the SOAP
Version 1.2 Specification Assertions and Test Collection.
The primer describes the features of SOAP Version 1.2 through examples and
links to the specification. The actual specification provides a framework
for XML-based messaging in two parts, the Messaging Framework and Adjuncts.
To help developers write SOAP processors, the W3C has authored the
Specification Assertions and Test Collection to provide a set of tests drawn
from the assertions found in the Messaging Framework and Adjuncts.
SOAP 1.2 Becomes a Standard
