Build robust, scalable, end-to-end business solutions with J2EE(TM) Web Services. This is the definitive practitioner's guide to building enterprise-class J2EE Web Services that integrate with any B2B application and interoperate with any legacy system. Sun senior architect Ray Lai introduces 25 vendor-independent architectural patterns and best practices for designing Web Services that deliver outstanding performance, scalability, and reliability. Lai takes you to the frontiers of emerging Web Services technologies, showing how to make the most of today's leading-edge tools, from Java Web Services Developer Pack to Apache Axis. Coverage includes: Web Services: making the business case, and overcoming the technical and business challenges Real-life examples and scenarios, and a start-to-finish application case study Expert guidance on reducing risk and avoiding implementation pitfalls Building complete business solutions with rich messaging and workflow collaboration Mainframe interoperabilityand B2B integration within and beyond the enterprise Framework and methodology to develop your Web Services patterns and best practices Up-to-the-minute coverage of Web Services security New applications: service consolidation, wireless, and more An extensive library of links to Web resources, reference material, and vendors Whether you're an architect, designer, project leader, or developer, these are the best practices, patterns, and techniques you need to succeed with Web services in your enterprise environment. Enterprises seeking to leverage Web Services to revolutionize the ways they deliver services to customers, partners, and employees will find the answers they need in this book."Ray Lai's J2EETM Platform Web Services is a comprehensive look at J2EE platform architecture and should be a must read for any serious Web Services developer." --Larry Tabb, Senior Strategic Advisor, Tower Group "This is

Ray Lai is a senior architect at Sun Microsystems.

Foreword This book is about big ideas and fine details--the possible and the practical. Amid thehype surrounding Web services, the central question is this: When will we get there?The answer, as you'll see in the following pages, is that we're already there--andstill have a long way to go. By now, the vision is almost universal: Emerging standards will increase the Internet'sability to deliver exactly what we need, precisely when we need it. Indeed, the conveniences are fun to imagine: Your car's navigation system checkingyour calendar to see where you want to go next and showing you the best way toget through traffic. Your flight delay triggering a change in your dinner reservation andan instant notification on your wireless phone or pager. In this book, that vision of the future is at once tempered and validated with examplesof present-day projects. In other words, nirvana may be a ways off, but companiesare already deploying less complex Web services to eliminate steps and lowercosts. This is a book for true practitioners. By that I mean not the dilettantes but the doers.It's for those interested in designing and implementing Web services now--andpreparing for new opportunities on the horizon. At Sun Microsystems, we believe that Web services are only partly about technology.The real starting point is identifying existing resources and mapping them to thedifferent communities you deal with day to day--customers, partners, suppliers, yourown employees. Once you know who needs access to what, you'll have a clear indication of the kindsof services you should offer--to boost employee productivity, streamline the supplychain, or personalize your marketing efforts. Then it's simply a matter of prioritizing: Which services have the most value to your constituents? Which offer you the bestpayback? This book can help you turn your vision into a reality. --Jonathan Schwartz, Executive Vice President, Software, Sun Microsystems, Inc.