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Encyclopedia > Service Oriented Architecture

In computing, the term Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) expresses a software architectural concept that defines the use of services to support the requirements of software users. In a SOA environment, nodes on a network¹ make resources available to other participants in the network as independent services that the participants access in a standardized way. Most definitions of SOA identify the use of Web services (using SOAP and WSDL) in its implementation. However, one can implement SOA using any service-based technology. Originally, the word computing was synonymous with counting and calculating, and a science that deals with the original sense of computing mathematical calculations. ... Software architecture is a coherent set of abstract patterns guiding the design of each aspect of a larger software system. ... It has been suggested that networking be merged into this article or section. ... A Web service is a software system designed to support interoperable machine-to-machine interaction over a network. ... SOAP is a standard for exchanging XML-based messages over a computer network, normally using HTTP. SOAP forms the foundation layer of the web services stack, providing a basic messaging framework that more abstract layers can build on. ... The Web Services Description Language (WSDL) is an XML format published for describing Web services. ...


Unlike traditional object-oriented architectures, SOAs comprise loosely joined, highly interoperable application services. Because these services interoperate over different development technologies (such as Java and .NET), the software components become very reusable. Object-oriented programming (OOP) is a computer programming paradigm in which a software system is modeled as a set of objects that interact with each other. ... The Java Platform is the name for a computing environment from Sun Microsystems which can run applications developed using the standard Java programming language and set of development tools. ... Microsoft . ...


SOA provides a methodology and framework for documenting enterprise capabilities and can support integration and consolidation activities. In software development, a framework is a defined support structure in which another software project can be organized and developed. ... Enterprise (occasionally archaically spelt enterprize) can refer to any of the following: // Psychology an attitude or a character trait conducive to undertaking bold ventures or actions, especially ventures involving risk a bold venture, particularly one of exploration or one that seeks inordinate profit Economics A business or organization, possibly the...


SOA is not a product, although several vendors offer products which can form the basis of a SOA. Examples of such products include (alphabetical by vendor):

High-level languages such as BPEL or WS-coordination take the service concept one step further by providing a method of defining and supporting workflows and business processes. Note: BEA Systems should not be confused with the similarly named defense contractor BAE Systems. ... This article needs cleanup. ... Cordys was launched by Jan Baan, founder of ERP vendor Baan Company, in September 2004. ... General Dynamics (NYSE: GD) is a defense conglomerate formed by mergers and divestitures. ... Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) is the worlds largest software company, with over 50,000 employees in various countries as of May 2004. ... International Business Machines Corporation (IBM, or colloquially, Big Blue) (NYSE: IBM) (incorporated June 15, 1911, in operation since 1888) is headquartered in Armonk, NY, USA. The company manufactures and sells computer hardware, software, and services. ... WebSphere refers to a brand of IBM software products, although the term also popularly refers to one specific product: WebSphere Application Server (WAS). ... The abbreviation, acronym, or initialism SAP has several different meanings: SAP Aktiengesellschaft, a software company, or its various products such as SAP R/3 or SAP BW second audio program (television) Session Announcement Protocol Soritong audio player Structural Adjustment Program Standard Accounting Program, a program on which some large businesses... NetWeaver is an application builder from SAP for integrating business processes and databases from a number of sources while exploiting the leading Web services technologies. ... Sun Microsystems (Sun Microsystems, Inc. ... In computers, the Java Enterprise System (JES) is a bundled package of products and services from Sun Microsystems for the purpose of providing all necessary tools to operate an enterprise’s information technology system (Sun Microsystems, Inc. ... TIBCO Software Inc. ... A high-level programming language is a programming language that is more user-friendly, to some extent platform-independent, and abstract from low-level computer processor operations such as memory accesses. ... In computer science, the programming language known as Business Process Execution Language (BPEL), as serialized in XML, aims to enable programming in the large. ...

Contents


SOA definitions

Term Definition / Comment
service (Ideally) a self-contained, stateless business function which accepts one or more requests and returns one or more responses through a well-defined,

standard interface. Services can also perform discrete units of work such as editing and processing a transaction. Services should not depend on the state of other functions or processes. The technology used to provide the service, such as a programming language, does not form part of this definition.

orchestration Sequencing services and providing additional logic to process data. Does not include data presentation. Also known as choreography.
stateless Not depending on any pre-existing condition. In a SOA, services should not depend on the condition of any other service. They receive all information needed to provide a response from the request. Given the statelessness of services, service consumers can sequence (orchestrate) them into numerous flows (sometimes referred to as pipelines) to perform application logic.
provider The function which performs a service in response to a request from a consumer.
consumer The function which consumes the result of a service supplied by a provider.

SOA design and development

The modeling and design methodology for SOA applications has become known as service-oriented analysis and design. The SOA functions as much as a software development framework as it does as a delivery framework. In order for a SOA environment to operate successfully, software developers need to orient themselves to its mindset of creating common services which clients or middleware then orchestrate to implement processes. Development of systems using the SOA requires a commitment to this model in terms of planning, tools, and infrastructure. Service-oriented analysis and design (SOAD) is an approach to software modeling and development specially designed for the service-oriented architecture paradigm. ...


When most people speak of a service-oriented architecture, they speak of a set of services residing on the Internet or an intranet using "Web services." A set of standards exists which generally feature in all discussions of Web services. These standards include the following: An intranet is a local area network (LAN) used internally in an organisation to facilitate communication and access to information that is sometimes access-restricted. ...

Note, however, that a SOA does not necessarily need to use any or all of these standards to become "service-oriented." The Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a W3C-recommended general-purpose markup language for creating special-purpose markup languages. ... HTTP (for HyperText Transfer Protocol) is the primary method used to convey information on the World Wide Web. ... SOAP is a standard for exchanging XML-based messages over a computer network, normally using HTTP. SOAP forms the foundation layer of the web services stack, providing a basic messaging framework that more abstract layers can build on. ... The Web Services Description Language (WSDL) is an XML format published for describing Web services. ... UDDI is an acronym for Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration – A platform-independent, XML-based registry for businesses worldwide to list themselves on the Internet. ...


Why SOA?

In simple terms, enterprise architects believe that SOAs help businesses respond more quickly and cost-effectively to the changing market conditions they may face.


External links

See also

In computing, an enterprise service bus is an emerging standard for integrating enterprise applications in an implementation-independent fashion, at a coarse-grained service level (leveraging the principles of service-oriented architecture) via an event-driven and XML-based¹ messaging engine (the bus). ...

Footnotes

¹ An alternative view, particularly after initial deployments, is that SOAs properly ought not dictate physical implementation, so the formal definition should not include "network." High performance SOAs may not be viable deployed to distributed nodes on a network, and separate nodes for every (or most) services could be prohibitively expensive. See, for example, IBM System z9 for an alternative to distributed nodes. Since December, 2001, IBM designates all its mainframes with the name eServer zSeries, with the e depicted in IBMs well-known red trademarked symbol. ...



 

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