A Web service is a self-describing, self-contained software module available via a network,such as the Internet, which completes tasks, solves problems, or conducts transactions on behalf of a user or application. Web services constitute a distributed computer infrastructure made up of many different interacting application modules trying to communicate over private or public networks (including the Internet and Web) to virtually form a single logical system.
A Web service can be:
(i) a self-contained business task, such as a funds withdrawal or funds deposit service;
(ii) a full-fledged business process, such as the automated purchasing of office supplies;
(iii) an application, such as a life insurance application or demand forecasts and stock replenishment;
(iv) a service-enabled resource, such as access to a particular back-end database containing patient medical records.
Web services can vary in function from simple requests (e.g., credit checking and authorization, pricing enquiries, inventory status checking, or a weather report) to complete business applications that access and combine information from multiple sources, such as an insurance brokering system, an insurance liability computation, an automated travel planner, or a package tracking system.
Web services address the problems of rigid implementations of predefined relationships and isolated services scattered across the Internet. The long-term goal of Web services technology is to enable distributed applications that can be dynamically assembled according to changing business needs, and customized based on device (such as personal computers, workstations, laptops, WAP-enabled cellular phones, personal digital assistants), network (such as cable, UMTS, XDSL, Bluetooth, etc.) and user access while enabling wide utilization of any given piece of business logic wherever it is needed. Once a Web service is deployed, other applications and Web services can discover and invoke it.
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