Frequently Asked Questions

What are XML Web services? XML Web services are one of the most exciting developments of the Internet age. This new technology allows computer applications to communicate with each other, regardless of platform, location, or device. Examples of Web services currently available include the new Google API and Amazon's new ordering service. What is this course about? In this course, experienced Java programmers learn to write new Web services and access existing Web services. Specifically, you gain extensive hands-on experience using Java to develop Web services and to access them in both a synchronous and asynchronous manner. You also learn to utilise existing services to rapidly develop solutions to business problems. You secure Web services with Java and XML security technologies. Who will benefit from this course? This course is useful for those interested in developing Web services or integrating applications on the Web, including programmers, Web application developers and systems architects. What background do I need? It is assumed that you have 3+ months of experience writing Java programs. You should understand Java classes and the inheritance model. You should be able to: Create and run a complete stand-alone Java application Use the standard flow control constructs (if/then/else/while/for) Instantiate Java objects and call instance methods Create classes that implement interfaces You can learn enough Java to be ready for this course by completing Course 471, Java Programming: A Comprehensive Hands-On Introduction. Do I need to know XML for this course? Some familiarity with XML is helpful, but the course covers all of the XML you need to successfully complete the exercises. Does this course cover SOAP, UDDI and WSDL? Yes. This course provides an overview of each of these technologies. You learn these technologies in enough detail to be able to access them with Java APIs and apply them in your own Web services. Does this course cover the WS-I interoperability guidelines? Yes. We review the requirements of the WS-I Basic Profile 1.0 throughout the course. We also discuss the WS-I usage scenarios in detail and implement the Synchronous Request/Response and Basic Callback scenarios in the hands-on exercises. What Java technologies will I use in this course? This course uses standard components of J2EE v1.4, including JAX-RPC, which allows you to invoke remote procedure calls using SOAP messages; SAAJ, which allows you to customise SOAP messages; and JAXR, which is used for publishing and discovering Web services on an intranet or on the Web. Will I learn to use any vendor-specific tools, such as WebLogic or WebSphere? No, however, everything that we discuss in this class is applicable to any J2EE-compliant application server, including WebLogic and WebSphere. This course uses the Java Web Services Developer Pack (Java WSDP) toolkit from Sun and open source tools, such as Apache Axis, Apache Tomcat and JBoss. Glossary JAXR: Java API for XML Registries JAX-RPC: Java API for XML-based Remote Procedure Call SOAP: Simple Object Access Protocol UDDI: Universal Description, Discovery and Integration WSDL: Web Services Description Language WS-I: Web Services Interoperability Organisation How much time is devoted to each topic? Content Hours Web services overview 1.5 Establishing a foundation for Web services 3.0 Describing Web services with WSDL 2.5 Building synchronous Web services 3.5 Accessing services with JAX-RPC 3.5 Document-oriented Web services 5.0 Accessing service registries 1.5 Implementing security strategies 2.5 Times, including the workshops, are estimates; exact times may vary according to the needs of each class. What kinds of hands-on exercises are in the course? Approximately 40% of class time is spent on hands-on exercises that build upon a common theme. In class, participants create several different Web services as well as the clients that access those services. Exercises include building scalable Web services, implementing and deploying Web services using JAX-RPC, consuming Web services with JAX-RPC clients, processing complex data types with services, defining document-oriented services, implementing the WS-I Basic Callback scenario, integrating services to form complex business processes, and securing Web services with Java and XML security technologies. When I complete this course, will I be able to architect a complete business process solution using Web services? Yes. In this course, you not only learn to create and deploy Web services, but you also learn to link existing services to rapidly fulfill evolving business requirements. How does this course differ from Course 508? This course focuses on implementing and accessing Web services using Java on any platform. Course 508, Building Web Services with .NET 2.0: Hands-On, defines Web services using the Microsoft-specific .NET technologies. How is this course different from course 424? Course 424, Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA): A Comprehensive Hands-On Introduction, focuses on the high-level architectural issues involved in designing an SOA, such as coordinating communication among services, and provides a "big picture" overview of SOA. Course 577 concentrates on the Java-specific fundamentals required to build the individual Web services used in the implementation of the SOA design. How does this course relate to Course 570? In Course 570, Developing Java Web Applications: Hands-On, you develop Web applications which are built from Java servlets and JavaServer Pages (JSP). In Course 577, you create Web services that communicate using SOAP messages. How does this course relate to other Learning Tree courses? This course is part of the Learning Tree Java curriculum. Unless you have 3 to 6 months of Java programming experience, you should take Course 471 before taking this course. Other Java courses in the curriculum can be taken before or after this course, depending on your needs, include: 517, Developing Enterprise Java Applications with Spring and Hibernate®: Hands-On  570, Developing Java Web Applications: Hands-On  You may also be interested in these courses: 542, XML: A Comprehensive Hands-On Introduction  549, Hands-On XSL: Transforming and Styling XML  424, Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA): A Comprehensive Hands-On Introduction

Java is a trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc. XML is a trademark of MIT, INRIA or Keio on behalf of the World Wide Web Consortium.