[XML-DEV Mailing List Archive Home] [By Thread] [By Date] [Recent Entries] [Reply To This Message]

Re: What does SOAP really add?


soap api xml
On Mon, Apr 22, 2002 at 03:20:45PM -0700, Dave Winer wrote:
> > To me, the matter of hours suggests we're looking at a trivial test
> > case, which doesn't prove anything either way.
> 
> Hmmm. Consider this possibility instead. The SOAP toolkit they used has been
> patiently tested against many popular SOAP implementations, and that work
> wasn't for naught. When it came time to test the API, it worked.

So what.  All that demonstrates is that it is possible to re-invent
XML-RPC with new tools.  It also helps that the Google SOAP API is
playing in a very well-worn portion of SOAP that's easy to test
and interop.

I shudder to think what will happen when someone tries to publish
a SOAP API with a more complex schema.  We won't get interoperability
by waving the magic WSDL pixie dust, and we'd be significantly
better off with some kind of task-specific XML document structure
with REST.

Amazon released an HTTP+XML API last week, and like the Google
interface, it's a very simple operation.  We're not trying to
achieve interop with N x N peers; we're all trying to get *one*
service to understand us, and understand what that *one* service
is returning.  It's not Google's (or Amazon's) responsibility to
test N different client implementations anyway; it's their
responsibility to publish a standard interface and adhere to it.

The "SOAP brings interop for free" argument is simply a straw man.
Especially when it necessarily prevents interop with a whole
class of tools (XSLT processors for one).

Z.


PURCHASE STYLUS STUDIO ONLINE TODAY!

Purchasing Stylus Studio from our online shop is Easy, Secure and Value Priced!

Buy Stylus Studio Now

Download The World's Best XML IDE!

Accelerate XML development with our award-winning XML IDE - Download a free trial today!

Don't miss another message! Subscribe to this list today.
Email
First Name
Last Name
Company
Subscribe in XML format
RSS 2.0
Atom 0.3
 

Stylus Studio has published XML-DEV in RSS and ATOM formats, enabling users to easily subcribe to the list from their preferred news reader application.


Stylus Studio Sponsored Links are added links designed to provide related and additional information to the visitors of this website. they were not included by the author in the initial post. To view the content without the Sponsor Links please click here.

Site Map | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Trademarks
Free Stylus Studio XML Training:
W3C Member
Stylus Studio® and DataDirect XQuery ™are products from DataDirect Technologies, is a registered trademark of Progress Software Corporation, in the U.S. and other countries. © 2004-2013 All Rights Reserved.