Service-oriented architectures use independent software functions called services that interact with a business model. Services are loosely coupled and adaptable, and can use the same protocols to achieve different results. XML is often used as a common language for service requests.
Service-oriented architectures aren’t exactly a new concept, but the ways they’re being used more often these days take advantage of new technology. In their most basic form, service-oriented architectures describe the structure of software applications and their interaction with a business model. The keyword in all of this is Service.
A service, as described in Service-Oriented Architectures, is a specific software function that is independent of any other function. For example, a bank’s software protocols will necessarily include a Get Customer Balance request, whereby upon request from the bank or the customer, a current balance is displayed. Getting the customer’s balance is a service. Using the banking model, other services include Deposit Process, Withdrawal Process and so on.
Using service-oriented architectures, each of these services makes its way through the entire software system independently, even using the software systems themselves. It seems counterintuitive, but it really isn’t. Basically, various services use the same system to do the same thing for different results. Get Customer Balance for John Smith is the same function as Get Customer Balance for Jane Doe Enterprises, but the data involved is different. The beauty of service-oriented architectures is that the software is designed to process all Get Customer Balance commands equally, whether the customer is an individual like John Smith or a company like Jane Doe Enterprises.
A key to the success of service-oriented architectures is that the services themselves are loosely coupled. That is, they are adaptable to different circumstances. If the Get Customer Balance service command suddenly becomes Get Customer Balance for All Accounts, the software doesn’t need to reinvent the virtual wheel; rather, the relevant Service may use the same basic protocols to achieve the same ends by slightly different means.
One way service oriented architectures are presented these days is through XML. This, for lack of a better term, general purpose programming language comes across as something of a lingua franca. All you need is a web browser to be able to process XML requests. You don’t need to be running the latest version of Windows or Mac OS. Access to the system and the execution of the necessary Services are managed because the computer executing the request and the computer providing the Service speak the same basic language.
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