World wide web is all about diversity. Millions of computing devices using different microprocessors, different Operating Systems, different network technologies running applications built using different technologies and languages wish to communicate with one another in a meaningful manner. So today's truly global application is in true sense of the word a distributed application where different pieces of the same application are physically running on different systems and might be built using different languages and technologies. To facilitate communication between these truly distributed applications it is necessary to create software services that are powerful and reusable and yet simple to use. In the past, the software world has tried to address this scenario by evolving technologies like CORBA and COM. These have met with varying degrees of success. Some of these technologies were difficult to use and were tied to specific computing platforms whereas, others lacked the marketing muscle and the appeal to make them succesful in a global marketplace. Web Services seems to be a perfect choice for providing distributed computing services in this scenario. They are elegant and powerful and addresses all the concerns mentioned above.
This book is about building practical Web Services using the .NET platform. These Web Services can be used from a .NET application or a Java application from a PC/Laptop or from a mobile device.
The best way to master a technology is to use it in creating something meaningful, something which is non-trivial. That way the chances are good that you will get to know and use most of the aspects of the technology that you are trying to learn. Towards this end we decided to create a content delivery platform called "Quest". As expected, while creating this we came across numerous situations where there were trade-offs in deciding which feature of the .NET technology to use to carry out the implementation of the task at hand. We also landed ourselves into several questions for which there were no straight answers. But as we proceeded we started documenting all that we were learning. At the end we are a satisfied lot—because not only the Quest Content Delivery platform that we created using .NET being used in the market to disseminate several courses on programming languages and technologies; in addition we also have a book which you are holding right now that contains answers to all the questions that we came across while carrying our the development of Quest.
That is how we learnt the nuances of Web Services. We urge you to follow in the same footsteps and try to create some meaning Web Service once you are through with the book. This way you would get a good insight into development of Web Services. All the best!
This book is about building practical Web Services using the .NET platform. These Web Services can be used from a .NET application or a Java application from a PC/Laptop or from a mobile device.
The best way to master a technology is to use it in creating something meaningful, something which is non-trivial. That way the chances are good that you will get to know and use most of the aspects of the technology that you are trying to learn. Towards this end we decided to create a content delivery platform called "Quest". As expected, while creating this we came across numerous situations where there were trade-offs in deciding which feature of the .NET technology to use to carry out the implementation of the task at hand. We also landed ourselves into several questions for which there were no straight answers. But as we proceeded we started documenting all that we were learning. At the end we are a satisfied lot—because not only the Quest Content Delivery platform that we created using .NET being used in the market to disseminate several courses on programming languages and technologies; in addition we also have a book which you are holding right now that contains answers to all the questions that we came across while carrying our the development of Quest.
That is how we learnt the nuances of Web Services. We urge you to follow in the same footsteps and try to create some meaning Web Service once you are through with the book. This way you would get a good insight into development of Web Services. All the best!
