XML Web Services and the Data Revolution (Addison-Wesley Information Technology Series) [Paperback]

XML is a disruptive technology: one that has already upset the balance of power throughout the technology industry, and offers organizations powerful opportunities for competitive advantage. In this book, Frank Coyle puts XML in context for both business and technical professionals, focusing on the big picture: the real value of XML, and the new Web services paradigm it has spawned. Coyle explains how XML makes it possible to deliver distributed computing solutions via loosely-coupled networks centered on the Web and XML -- and how this, in turn, transforms the way organizations manage data, build software, and assemble software systems. He introduces XML's simple rules for defining data vocabularies and its tools for structuring data, showing how XML's simplicity is the source of its power. He introduces the family of technologies surrounding XML, including namespaces, schema, and standards for presentation, transformation and meta-description. Next, Coyle shows XML at work in a wide array of applications, from financial services to wireless. He introduces SOAP, UDDI, and WDSL; shows how Web services enable an entirely new generation of software; and explores how the software is reacting to the radical changes brought about by XML-based technology. Coyle concludes by introducing three new XML-related initiatives designed to address the challenge of securing business-critical XML traffic.

"Frank Coyle's XML,Web Services, and the Data Revolution does a great job of explaining the XML phenomenon by clearly describing where it came from, why it has proved so useful, and where it is likely to take us."—Michael Champion

XML, Web Services, and the Data Revolution presents a revealing view of XML that places this emerging technology in the context of the ongoing Web revolution. Written for business and technical professionals, this book reveals the true value of XML for distributed information systems, explaining how it is transforming the way organizations manage data and build software systems, and the opportunities it offers for those organizations that understand its significance and impact.

This book places XML at the heart of a paradigm shift that is bridging the gap between traditional tightly coupled proprietary networks (DCOM, CORBA) and the dynamic, loosely-coupled, data-driven Web. The author explains how XML's simple rules for defining data vocabularies and protocols have opened up new possibilities for server to server interaction in the form of Web services for dynamic discovery and interaction. He goes on to discuss how frameworks such as .NET and J2EE(TM) provide important messaging, transaction, and security services for leveraging Web services in enterprise computing. The book also discusses how XML and Web services reflect a fundamental shift in software construction from monolithic applications to software based on the composition of simple parts. In addition, the book showcases XML at work in a wide array of applications, and explores how major software organizations have responded to the changes brought about by XML-based technology.

Specific topics include:

• XML and its role in the expanding enterprise
• The XML family of technologies including:
•       CSS, XFORMS, XHTML, and VoiceXML presentation technologies
•       DTDs and XML Schema technologies for structure and typing
•       XSLT, XPATH, and XQUERY technologies for manipulating XML
• The three waves of XML in practice:
•       Vertical industry-specific data vocabularies
•       Horizontal industry vocabularies (SVG, SMIL, EJB descriptors)
•       XML protocols (XML-RPC, SOAP)
• UDDI and WDSL (Web Services Definition Language)
• XML security, including XML Encryption, XML Signature, and XML Key Management Specification
• How .NET and J2EE(TM) fulfill the need for transactions and security for Web services
• ebXML and process-based Web interaction
• A new role for mainframe-based legacy applications
• A future where Web services meets P2P (peer-to-peer) computing

Containing both technical details and a broader perspective, XML, Web Services, and the Data Revolution provides the insight organizations must have to understand and harness this powerful technology for a successful venture into the evolving, Web-based enterprise computing environment.