Understanding SOAP begins with a discussion of distributed object computing, reviewing the current technologies. It then discusses the realities that make distributed object computing so difficult. Given these realities, the book provides a case study of a current technology to show why it is so difficult to distribute objects and why a protocol, such as SOAP, is such an important topic. An in-depth example gives you a working scenario of what is involved with distributed object computing and SOAP. Finally, the book discusses the future of SOAP, to include language binding and system integration. This book provides you with an accelerated approach to understanding how XML applies to distributed systems, specifically using the SOAP protocol.
Kenn Scribner and Mark Stiver have considerable experience with distributed systems. Most recently they spent two years developing a commercial product that implemented a SOAP-like XML interface.
Kennard Scribner is a senior systems programmer with the world¿s largest supplier of information services for the legal industry. In addition, he is the founder and President of The EnduraSoft Corporation, a software company specializing in the creation of custom components. Kenn is the author of Sams Teach Yourself ATL Programming in 21 Days, and co-author of MFC Programming Unleashed.
Mark C. Stiver is a Senior Software Engineer and the Technical Lead for a product development group at a major data warehouse company. He has over ten years of experience working on a wide variety of commercial, industrial, and military software development projects. Most recently, Mark completed a two-year effort developing an n-tier, distributed product using XML as the base protocol to integrate Windows desktop, Windows NT Server, and UNIX applications.