Re: [Juglist] Anyone actually using "web Services" in production?

[Tad W. Stephens]

I don't want to make this a vendor commercial and I usually lurk on this 
list silently but decided to weigh in on this particular topic.  I have 
worked with a number of accounts in the southeast who have deployed 
production applications implemented using web services.  Most of these 
systems have moderate performance requirements and clients that are 
geographically dispersed and often external to the organization.  The 
typical model is to expose a WSDL interface using HTTP or HTTPS and 
implement authentication/authorization checks and transactional controls on 
the server.  In the cases I've worked with the applications are limited to 
a request/response paradigm.

There are a number of reasons these applications were deployed using web 
services instead of CORBA or RMI/EJB.  However, these can be grouped into 
the following categories:

1) Broad support for client devices and types - Since many of these 
applications are working with internet or extranet clients with no or 
restricted control over the client supported, web services provides the 
broadest, most flexible option.
2) Microsoft interoperability - Most of these applications include support 
for Microsoft clients.  Web services, despite its immaturity, offers the 
best solution available as well as a path for future growth.
3) Loose coupling - This may be an extension to number 1.  For the 
applications I've worked with there is little control placed on the client 
calling the service; loose coupling allows changes to be made to the 
underlying services without disrupting the client's connectivity or 
requiring complicated distribution of updated client DLLs or libraries.

The biggest challenge in the implementations I've seen is single sign-on, 
especially since the standards in this area are still being formed and 
there are limited options that provide platform independence and 
interoperability.  Most folks have chosen something proprietary with an eye 
on where the standards are headed (e.g. WS-Security) and plans to migrate 
once comprehensive support and interoperability are defined.

At 09:33 PM 5/25/2003 -0400, you wrote:
So I am curious.  Is anyone actually using "web services" in production?  If
so, how?  Are you happy with the performance, etc?  What would you change?
What would the alternative have been?  What does the system look like?
Thanks,

Andy
--
Andrew C. Oliver
http://www.superlinksoftware.com/poi.jsp
Custom enhancements and Commercial Implementation for Jakarta POI
http://jakarta.apache.org/poi
For Java and Excel, Got POI?
_______________________________________________
Juglist mailing list
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://trijug.org/mailman/listinfo/juglist_trijug.org


_______________________________________________
Juglist mailing list
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://trijug.org/mailman/listinfo/juglist_trijug.org