Definition:
A Web based application that can dynamically interact with other Web applications using XML protocol are defined under the term Web Services.
It enables one application to easily find another needed application on the Internet and is able to seamlessly exchange data with it.
Examples of it's application are diverse.
a) A Travel Site taking reservations from a customer and then verifying with the hotel whether the reservation is available, and making the subsequent bookings and then accepting payment from the customer. These transactions can take place over the Internet automatically and seamlessly with the various software pieces interacting with each other.
Unlike traditional client server models, such as a Web Server/Web Browser system, Web services do not provide the user with an interface. Instead, it's the applications that interface with each other.
Web services does not require any one common programming language or operating system. A perl program can talk to a Java program based on a remote computer and a PHP application can interface with a .net application. Because of it's platform independence there is no conflict between proprietary component based solutions such as CORBA and COM. All communication is in XML that forms the common layer linking all the applications. Web Services allow organizations to communicate data without having internal knowledge about each other's IT systems behind firewall.
Components of a Web Service:
A Web Service can implement any one or more of the following standards to be defined as a web service.
SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol): This defines the internal structure of the XML document that Web Services consume and produce. The tongue of Web Services is SOAP which is recognized as industry standard and widely adopted across software, hardware vendors, Operating systems and programming languages.
WSDL (Web Services Definition Language):”
In order to be discovered and interfaced with my other applications, a Web Service needs to be defined in a consistent manner. WSDL is a W3C specification providing the foremost language for the description of web services.
Applications of Web Services:
Web Services finds use in diverse fields from Department Stores to Knowledge Collaboration.
Major retailers are now using XML and web services to inform their vendors whenever a sale is made. As a result, vendors as well as retailers can forecast trends and do better inventory management.
Weather Information:
Government Agencies are providing xml feeds of their weather data which can be easily integrated by applications or listeners and get up to date feeds.
News Syndication:
Another major area where web services and RSS feeds are finding a niche is in news syndication. Now news can be updated simultaneously on multiple sites with the deployment of web services and without human intervention.
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SERVICES 
site by: DWM 
