FAQ on Service Oriented Architecture (SOA)
What is Service Oriented Architecture?
Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) is the union of three things:
- A methodology to identify and design software applications as services.
- A set of tools to make it easy to build service interfaces to Java, .NET and other software.
- A set of patterns to construct a service.
SOA is a way of turning what is otherwise a Java class, into a service using Web Services and XML Messaging. Services provide a function that operates on data, or provides information that you previously did not have. Developers build SOA applications using Java tools and application servers, and follow SOA patterns.
For instance, a medium-sized enterprise that manufactures and sells products needs to keep track of purchase orders issued through several business units. Applying an SOA methodology answers questions about the proposed service, including the following:
- Does it make sense for the business to have a single purchase order service? Or, would the company be more flexible with each business unit having it's own purchase order application?
- What applications would use the service?
- Who will maintain the service?
- What is the process to follow when the service is down?
Answering these questions provides guidance to the software developers that must design and rollout the service, including identifying the most appropriate tools and protocols to build the programmatic interface to the service. SOA patterns show the best practices to implement the service. For instance, the SOA pattern for XML parsing using XQuery may recommend several techniques for improving XQuery performance.
Is SOA the same as Web Services?
Web Services are still here and a vital part of SOA. Web Services in an SOA environment are part of the mix of tools and patterns to construct interoperable services. Web Services are no longer an end to themselves. Previous prognostication that Web Services will replace RMI, Corba, and DCOM are wrong. These protocols will run next to Web Services in a datacenter and on the network.
What value does PushToTest bring to my effort to build SOA?
PushToTest provides tools, methods, experience, and experts to solve your service scalability and performance problems and to teach your development team the best practices to build scalable and well performing services.
What are enterprises considering about SOA today?
Medium to large enterprises are considering SOA today and have many questions and issues. Read the questions and answers of a panel of enterprise IT managers that are building service architectures.
My question was not answered here. Where should I look next?
Look at the Support Page for additional sources of answers to your question. Or call us at (408) 871-0122 (California USA Pacific time)
