J2EE and .NET: Interoperability with Webservices

Abstract

The next generation of distributed computing has arrived. Over the past few years, XML has enabled heterogeneous computing environments to share information over the World-Wide Web. It now offers a simplified means by which to share process as well. From a technical perspective, the advent of web services is not a revolution in distributed computing. It is instead a natural evolution of XML application from structured representation of information to structured representation of inter-application messaging. The revolution is in the opportunities this evolution affords. Prior to the advent of web services, enterprise application integration was very difficult due to differences in programming languages and middleware used within organizations. The chances of any two business systems using the same programming language and the same middleware was slim to none, since there has not been a de-facto winner. These ‘component wars’ spelled headaches for integration efforts, and resulted in a plethora of custom adapters, one-off integrations, and integration ‘middlemen’. In short, interoperability was cumbersome and painful. With web services, any application can be integrated so long as it is Internet-enabled. The foundation of web services is XML messaging over standard web protocols such as HTTP. This is a very lightweight communication mechanism that any programming language, middleware, or platform can participate in, easing interoperability greatly. These industry standards enjoy widespread industry acceptance, making them very low-risk technologies for corporations to adopt. With web services, you can integrate two businesses, departments, or applications quickly and cost-effectively.