For developers wishing to bridge the gap between the Java and non-Java worlds, Apache Axis holds great promise. Axis is an open source Java framework for implementing Web services over XML-based SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol). Yet, developers wishing to convert complex Java classes into SOAP-compliant types are likely to find their greatest challenges not with interoperability, but with Axis itself. This article guides the reader through the minefield of developing and deploying a sophisticated Web service using Axis. Coverage includes creating an Axis test client. (3,400 words; April 11, 2003)
SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) and its supporting standards, such as Jini and EJBs (Enterprise JavaBeans), cannot deliver certain Web services. Jini and EJBs are good for enterprise-level applications, but not for all cross-enterprise applications. This article describes Jtrix, an open source Web services platform for secure, roving applications. It examines the limits of existing standards, Jtrix's core model, and how Jtrix enables you to create Web services in such areas as hosting, disk space, and CPU time. (1,600 words; May 3, 2002)
As you've learned from Parts 1 and 2 of this four-part series on SOAP, creating SOAP services is easy. In Part 3, Tarak Modi shows you an even simpler way to create SOAP services using Apache SOAP and JavaScript. (1,800 words)
As Tarak Modi mentioned throughout the first three parts of this series, Apache SOAP client developers end up with a raw deal, since they must complete extra work that they normally would not have to do. So, in this fourth and final installment, he will present a framework based on the dynamic proxy classes in the Java 2 Platform, Version 1.3. This framework will make creating SOAP clients just as easy and intuitive as creating SOAP services. (1,900 words)
SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) services are progressing from lab prototypes to real-world applications. If, while developing distributed Java applications that interact with SOAP services, you experience network-traffic overhead issues from repeated SOAP HTTP calls, read on. In this article, Ozakil Azim and Araf Karsh Hamid describe how to create transparent, client-side caching for SOAP services using the Business Delegate and Cache Management design patterns. (2,700 words; March 8, 2002)
As Tarak Modi mentioned throughout the first three parts of this series, Apache SOAP client developers end up with a raw deal, since they must complete extra work that they normally would not have to do. So, in this fourth and final installment, he will present a framework based on the dynamic proxy classes in the Java 2 Platform, Version 1.3. This framework will make creating SOAP clients just as easy and intuitive as creating SOAP services. (1,900 words)
For developers wishing to bridge the gap between the Java and non-Java worlds, Apache Axis holds great promise. Axis is an open source Java framework for implementing Web services over XML-based SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol). Yet, developers wishing to convert complex Java classes into SOAP-compliant types are likely to find their greatest challenges not with interoperability, but with Axis itself. This article guides the reader through the minefield of developing and deploying a sophisticated Web service using Axis. Coverage includes creating an Axis test client. (3,400 words; April 11, 2003)
Developers rightly criticize SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) for being overly complex. At heart, however, SOAP is only an XML message format, and its complexity relates more with how we put SOAP to use. In its simplest form, SOAP can exchange structured messages between a Web service and its clients. Since SOAP messages are not limited to XML data and can also include binary content, sending and receiving SOAP messages represents a simple way to exchange information across the Web. In his latest Web Services column, Frank Sommers shows how the SOAP with Attachments API for Java (SAAJ) 1.2 supports creating, parsing, and sending SOAP messages with binary content. (2,100 words; September 12, 2003)
