Web Services Session: Introduction

Hugo Haas <hugo@w3.org>
W3C Web Services Activity Lead

Presentation at WWW2002, 8 May 2002

Slides available at:
http://www.w3.org/2002/Talks/www2002-hh-0508-wsa/

Overview

• What is a Web service?
• Web services work at W3C.
• Web Services Architecture Working Group Status:
  • Purpose.
  • Current status.
  • Future.

What is a Web service?

• World Wide Web originally designed for people to share information.
• Since early days: people have been using HTML forms as interfaces to access programs (CGI programs).
• More recently: machine to machine interaction.

  Web service:

  • Application.
  • For use by another application.
  • Accessed via the Web (XML).

An example of a Web service

Overview of a travel agent usage scenario:

• Travel agent service sells vacation packages.
• Uses other Web services: credit card WS, hotel WS, airline WS.

Advantages:

• Low cost for new airlines, hotels, credit card companies to sell products.
• Travel agent service has access to more options.
• Customers get better deals.

Web services work at W3C

• Core technologies: XML, XML Schema, ...
• Web Services Activity: Web services technology (XML-based protocol, description language).
• Other key aspects: security (digital signatures, encryption, key management), ontologies (Semantic Web Activity), ...

Web Services Activity

• Created in January 2002.
• Subsumes the XML Protocol Activity started in September 1999.
• All the work is done in public: mailing list archive, meeting records, editors' copies of the documents are available publicly.
• Organization:

  3 Working Groups:

  • Web Services Architecture Working Group.
  • XML Protocol Working Group.
  • Web Services Description Working Group.

  1 Coordination Group.

Web Services Architecture Working Group

• Created in January 2002.
• 70 participants representing 50 Member organizations.
• Goal: define the Web services architecture.
  • What are we trying to achieve?
  • What technology is needed?
• Define the scope of each technology and its relationship with others.
• Output used to scope proposal for new Working Groups.

Status of the Working Group

• Web Services Architecture Requirements: 29 April 2002 Working Draft
• Glossary: first editors' copy available soon
• Web Services Architecture Usage Scenarios: 1 May 2002 editors' copy
• All the work is done in public.

Web Services Architecture Requirements

Web Services Architecture Requirements: 29 April 2002 Working Draft

• Interoperability.
• Reliability.
• Web-friendly.
• Security.
• Scalability and extensibility.
• Set of team goals for the Working Group.

Requirements: Web-friendly

Must be consistent with the current and future evolution of the World Wide Web.

• Consistent with the existing Web.
• Uses XML.
• Aligned with the Semantic Web.

Requirements: Security

Must provide a secure environment for on-line processes.

• Address security:
  • Authentication (parties, data).
  • Authorization.
  • Confidentiality.
  • Data integrity.
  • Non-repudiation.
  • ...
• Enable privacy protection.

Requirements: Scalability and extensibility

Must be scalable and extensible.

• Simple.
• Modular.
• Extensible.
• Provide guidance for the development of common business functions.

Upcoming milestones

Target schedule:

• July 2002:
  • more complete requirements document.
  • Glossary & usage scenario document as Working Drafts.
  • first version of the architecture document.
• October 2002: first Working Group recommendations.

References

This presentation: http://www.w3.org/2002/Talks/www2002-hh-0508-wsa/ linked from http://www.w3.org/Talks/

Web Services Activity: http://www.w3.org/2002/ws/

Web Services Architecture Working Group: http://www.w3.org/2002/ws/arch/