Today, the principal use of the World Wide Web is for interactive
access to documents and applications. In almost all cases, such
access is by human users, typically working through Web browsers,
audio players, or other interactive front-end systems. The Web can
grow significantly in power and scope if it is extended to support
communication between applications,from one program to another.
—From the W3C XML ProtocolWorking Group Charter
Welcome to the world of web services. This chapter will ground you in
the basics of web service terminology and architecture. It does so by
answering the most common questions, including:
