Database Reference
In-Depth Information
An introduction to BPEL
BPEL
stands for
Business Process Execution Language
. The standard body for
BPEL is
Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards
(
OASIS
) that produces worldwide standards incorporating industry consensus. The
syntax of BPEL is XML-based and the current specification is WSBPEL Version 2.0.
BPEL is a programming language that has a mix of structured (blocks) and unstruc-
tured (control-links and events). BPEL is used for designing business processes that
integrate web services into end-to-end process flow, and for the orchestration of busi-
ness services. BPEL is mainly used for orchestrating services. The following figure
shows the sample structure of a BPEL process:
A brief description of BPEL is given as follows:
• BPEL is one of the leading specifications to standardize orchestration logic
and process automation between web services.
• The key benefit of BPEL is about leveraging more from existing application
assets. BPEL enables legacy applications to be deployed as web services
and orchestrated across platforms.
• Identifying and documenting both the existing and new required high-level
business process is a time-consuming but essential job.
• BPEL enables developers to develop processes quickly by defining the or-
der in which services will be invoked and provide an easy interface to con-
nect processes from external systems.
• BusinessProcessExecution Languageforwebservicesprovidesameans
to formally specify business processes and interaction protocols. BPEL is
actingasagluetobindwebservicesintoacohesivebusinesssolutionand
facilitating their orchestrated interaction within and between enterprises.
• Web service is an integration model created for allowing integration of sys-
tems built using heterogeneous tools and technologies. BPEL is one of the
