Re: [CNET] Web services -- a 2001 thing?

From: Mark Baker (mbaker@cpu2164.adsl.bellglobal.com)
Date: Mon Jan 01 2001 - 21:32:45 PST


> There are still a lot of disconnects here..

I don't think there's lots. I think the main disconnect is simply that
you believe it's best for application developers to define their own
network interfaces, and I believe it's best for that to be generic.

> It's about enabling cross-platform over-the-Internet procedure calls passing
> data structures in an intermediate format that are translated to a
> programming language's internal data structures invisibly to the programmer.

Rephrasing my comment above, you believe that your stated big picture goal
can be achieved by encouraging application developers to define their own
APIs for their software components. I however, believe it's best if they
can agree on a common API. Moreover, I believe that HTTP 1.1 defines just
such an API.

> It's so simple I can't understand what's so controversial about it.

Tell me about it! 8-)

> Put it another way: What's your prescription? Withdraw XML-RPC and SOAP and
> tell the programmers to ask Mark how to do interapplication communication?
> If so, what would you tell them to do?

SOAP has (arguable) utility beyond its use for RPC, so I may keep it.
But I'd tell programmers to use the API that HTTP defines, and not
define their own.

Happy New Year all,

MB



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