"this book dives deep into the specific aspects of first and second generation web services technology, highlighting the relevance and importance of this comprehensive technology." --kris gopalakrishnan, executive co-chairman, infosys limited bangalore, india "this is a superbly crafted new edition of the earlier book on web services. This is a must-read for every it researcher or professional working in the area of web services and service oriented architecture. The examples and narration are apt and arresting." -- prof. Y. Narahari, professor & chairman, department of csa, iisc, bangalore, indiaa web service is a software system designed to support interoperable machine-to-machine interaction over a network. It has an interface described in a machine-processable format; specifically web services description language (wsdl). Web services has evolved into a mature technology over the past decade and has turned into a crucial enterprise technology, after witnessing crests and troughs of the hyperbole and technobabble. Web services revolution in the industry has started resulting in delivering more streamlined and efficient enterprise applications, with lower costs and enhanced efficiency for business process integration. The book dives deep into some of the specific aspects of first and second generation web services technology and highlights the relevance and importance of specific pieces of this comprehensive technology. The book also elaborates on a unique case study in the banking industry, with the help of which a real world example of interbank funds transfer among disparate banks through clearing house interbank payment system based automated clearing house (ach) application suite is discussed in detail. - from Amzon