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Soap

SOAP (originally Simple Object Access Protocol) is a protocol for exchanging XML-based messages over 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. more...

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The original acronym was dropped with Version 1.2 of the standard, which became a W3C Recommendation on June 24, 2003, as it was considered to be misleading.

There are several different types of messaging patterns in SOAP, but by far the most common is the Remote Procedure Call (RPC) pattern, in which one network node (the client) sends a request message to another node (the server), and the server immediately sends a response message to the client. SOAP is the successor of XML-RPC, though it borrows its transport and interaction neutrality and the envelope/header/body from elsewhere, probably from WDDX .

Originally designed by Dave Winer, Don Box, Bob Atkinson, and Mohsen Al-Ghosein in 1998 with backing from Microsoft (where Atkinson and Al-Ghosein worked at the time) as an object-access protocol, the SOAP specification is currently maintained by the XML Protocol Working Group of the World Wide Web Consortium.

Transport methods

Both SMTP and HTTP are valid application layer protocols for SOAP, but HTTP has gained wider acceptance as it works well with today's Internet infrastructure; specifically, SOAP works well with network firewalls. This is a major advantage over other distributed protocols like GIOP/IIOP or DCOM which are normally filtered by firewalls.

XML was chosen as the standard message format because of its widespread use by major corporations and open source development efforts. Additionally, a wide variety of freely available tools significantly ease the transition to a SOAP-based implementation.

The somewhat lengthy syntax of XML can be both a benefit and a drawback. Its format is possible for humans to read, but can be complex and can have slow processing times. For example, CORBA, GIOP, ICE, and DCOM use much shorter, binary message formats. On the other hand, hardware appliances are available to accelerate processing of XML messages. Binary XML is also being explored as a means for streamlining the throughput requirements of XML.

Weaknesses

Because of the lengthy XML format, SOAP can be considerably slower than competing middleware technologies such as CORBA. This may not be an issue when only small messages are sent.; When relying on HTTP as a transfer protocol and not using WS-Addressing or an ESB, the roles of the interacting parties are fixed. Only one party (the client) can use the services of the other. So developers must use polling instead of notification in these common cases.; Relies on Web Services Description Language, an external standard. There is no standard way to dynamically discover the services (methods, parameters) offered, nor to get a WSDL for a particular endpoint.;