Web services” refer to software systems designed to support interoperable machine-to-machine interaction over a network. In simpler terms, they are methods for different devices or software to communicate with each other over the internet. There are several types of web services:
- SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol): SOAP is a protocol for exchanging structured information in the implementation of web services. It uses XML for message formatting and relies on other protocols like HTTP and SMTP for message negotiation and transmission.
- REST (Representational State Transfer): REST is an architectural style for designing networked applications. It typically uses standard HTTP methods (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE) to perform operations on resources identified by URIs (Uniform Resource Identifiers).
- JSON-RPC and XML-RPC: These are lightweight protocols for making remote procedure calls (RPC) between distributed systems using JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) or XML (eXtensible Markup Language) for data interchange.
- GraphQL: GraphQL is a query language and runtime for APIs that enables clients to request only the data they need. It provides a more efficient and flexible alternative to traditional REST APIs by allowing clients to specify exactly what data they require in a single request.
Web services are widely used in various domains, including e-commerce, social media, financial services, and more, to enable communication and integration between different systems and platforms.