Before web services, limited system integration and interoperability hampered business to business operations. Web services allow multiple technologies, operating systems, and programming languages to communicate with each other.
A web service is a software application that exposes business functionality over the internet using a standardized industry protocol, such as XML. A web service can be invoked from anywhere on the internet by client applications.
How to Start a Web Service Business?
Web services are modular software components whose application functionality is accessible over the Internet using standard Internet protocols and XML-based messaging. They allow programmers to share code and connect existing programs across different platforms, overcoming implementation incompatibilities.
To run a web service, a provider must publish the information about the service and its organization in one or more registries (see Using Web Service Registries). Consumers can then find a web service by querying a registry or through other means, such as direct publishing or e-mail or personal communications.
Advanced web services have changed the digital landscape with evolved system integration and interoperability. They offer the potential to transform business processes by enabling companies to expose discrete pieces of functionality as services over the Internet, reducing development costs and speeding time-to-market for new products and services.
What is a Web Service?
A web service is an Internet software system that exposes business functionality as a set of API (application programming interface) calls, accessible via HTTP (the protocol used to deliver web pages). This functionality can be utilized by other applications to perform complex operations without needing to write and manage all the code in-house.
A Web service is based on standardized industry protocols like SOAP (Service Operation Protocol) and UDDI (Universal Description, Discovery and Registration). The data communication between these systems uses the machine-readable data formats XML and JSON, while the transport layers use HTTP and other Internet technologies.
A web service consists of three parts: the Service provider, the Service requestor and the Service registry or broker. The Service provider creates the web service and makes it available on their server to anyone who wants to utilize it. The Service requestor then binds to the service by getting information about it from the broker and using the WSDL (Service Description Language) and UDDI to find the web service.
What are the Benefits of a Web Services?
Web services can help businesses move their corporate processes online and improve connectivity with customers, vendors and internal teams. They are easy to deploy and can be accessed from any Internet-enabled application, including browsers, rich desktop clients, mobile devices and interactive voice response (IVR) systems. Since they are based on XML, they are interoperable across multiple programming languages and platforms.
They are a common way for companies to share business data with their partners and customers. They offer a low cost alternative to EDI and B2B integration technologies. Web service interoperability is achieved using XML at the data representation and data transportation layers, eliminating any framework organization, operating system or platform sort of dependencies. Web services are also easily accessible through a broker or UDDI – a mechanism that helps client applications locate a service they need. This makes web services a popular option for businesses that need to integrate their existing systems with third party applications.