Liudvikas Bukys

Apache XML Security 1.0.0 released. The Apache XML Project have released the first stable version of their XML Security project, implementing Canonical XML and XML Signature. [xmlhack]

Schneier worried about SOAP security. Bruce Schneier has written,
in the latest issue of CRYPTO-GRAM,
an analysis of the security of Microsoft’s products, touching on .NET and SOAP. [xmlhack]

More evidence that the tune is changing. No longer are we the unwashed masses yearning to be taught the true path to enlightenment by the C developers, now they’re pleading with us to help them work around limits in their crippled environments. Heh. Now don’t go overboard. But the self-deprecation is appreciated. One of our mottos is It’s Even Worse Than It Appears. We are all members of the Church of Murphy, whether we use static or dynamic environments.   [Scripting News]

MSDN: Don Box on the Importance of Being WSDL

Despite the years I spent trying to make SOAP a standard way for programs to communicate over the Internet; I find that raw SOAP and XML are at odds with all of these compilers I am now using. I am told that if you give me machine-readable contract definitions, my compiler can help me talk to your Web services. A lot.

If you don’t give me a machine-readable contract, then I am going to have to write one of these weird-looking WSDL files by hand, and that always makes me cranky. I understand that writing WSDL makes you cranky too, but I’ll bet if you wrote the WSDL once and put it on your Web site, everyone else would just use it, and no one would ever need to write that WSDL again. And if you wrote a ten-line WS-Inspection or DISCO file to go along with it, I could find out about all of your other services too.

I know that WSDL isn’t perfect. God knows I tried to make it better prior to publication. Luckily, the W3C just launched a WSDL working group and it looks like the community at large has the will to clean it up, just as SOAP was cleaned up once it got the attention of a large community of practitioners and experts. In fact, SOAPBuilders is running a WSDL bake-off in February that surely will yield some progress on this front.

I also know that writing WSDL for your script-based Web services is more work for you, but your suffering would benefit thousands or more developers anxious to use your stuff. And just think of the nice things they will say about you once you made their lives easier.

And not under their breath.

News.Com: Giants forging Web services consortium.

InfoWorld: IBM, Microsoft, BEA partner on Web services.

IN AN ATTEMPT to ensure consistency in the development of Web services, IBM, Microsoft, and BEA Systems on Thursday will announce a software group the purpose of which will be to promote existing and future standards as defined by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and the Organization for the Advancement Of Structured Information Standards (OASIS).

According to those who are familiar with the charter of the new group, called the Web Service Interoperability Organization, it will campaign to better educate developers about how to build Web services as well as advocate the consistency of building block standards such as SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol), UDDI (Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration), and the WSDL (Web Services Description Language).

And, perhaps more importantly, the group will be actively encouraging the consistency of future Web services standards to come that address fundamental capabilities such as transactions management systems, security, identification, and authorization, sources said.

Apache XML project releases Xerces 2.0.0. Xerces 2 for Java, the Apache XML Project’s second generation XML parser, has now finished its beta phase and is considered production quality. [xmlhack]

Lighthouse: A redesign recipe for tough times. The recent boom has ensured that most of the Web sites that are needed have already gone up. The end of that boom has deadened any sense of urgency among organisations still planning their first site. And it’s a rare Web site built in the past four years that couldn’t use substantial improvement. [Tomalak’s Realm]

devhead: From December 22, 1998; Redesign: When and How. Jakob Nielsen. [Tomalak’s Realm]

The IDL That Isn’t

“The web service model is a very good one. But it will only be adopted if interoperability is easy to achieve. The best way to do that is to move to the IDL-centric model used by the classic RPC technologies of the past. Ultimately, web service toolkits will have to support a development model that starts with WSDL and web service developers will have to embrace and use that language. To facilitate that, WSDL should be radically reworked by the W3C and ultimately simplified (preferably along the lines we described in last month’s column). Until then, WSDL will remain the IDL that isn’t.”

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Web Services, Part II: Calling Service Methods. Our JavaScript Web services series continues with a look at basic calling methods.
Turns out it’s a lot like ordering pizza: when the delivery does actually show up, you might need to check and see if it’s the right one.
By Yehuda Shiran and Tomer Shiran. 2001/11/21 [WebReference News]

See also:
Part I: Web Services, Introduction