Java Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 11-3.
Interfaces of operations are accessible via their endpoints.
AlthoughSOAPcanbeusedbyitself,asdemonstratedlaterinthischapter'sdiscus-
sionoftheSAAJAPI,SOAPistypicallyusedwith
Web Services Description Language
(WSDL,pronouncedwhiz-dull),anXMLlanguagefordefiningtheoperationsprovided
bytheservice.UnlikeWSDL,SOAP,whichoncestoodforSimpleObjectAccessPro-
tocol, is no longer considered to be an acronym. (SOAP is neither simple nor does it
relate to objects.)
A
WSDL document
is a formal contract between a SOAP-based web service and its
clients,providingallthedetailsneededtointeractwiththewebservice.Thisdocument
lets yougroupmessages intooperations andoperations intointerfaces. Italsolets you
