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On 19 Aug 2001 13:05:34 -0400, Champion, Mike wrote: > I don't think there's anything in Edd's article that disputes this. He's > talking about the gap between hype and reality, not the practical reality of > SOAP and RPC. I bet we can all agree that SOAP/XML-RPC are "good things" > that are maturing steadily. I doubt that, actually. I'm quite happy with XML-RPC, but in large part I'm happy that it's basically completed its maturation. It does what it does very well, in a relatively simple way, if not an especially efficient (bandwidth/processing) way. So far, "worse is better"[1], and all is well - heck, excellent. SOAP on the other hand seems to be maturing toward greater potential for disaster. It promises to do far more difficult things than XML-RPC, while using the same infrastructure. Its "envelope" approach adds extra layers to messaging which both open enormous possibilities and weigh down those possibilities with extra overhead. The continuing march of acronyms in the SOAP world suggests that we aren't nearly finished yet, and interoperability looks likely to remain a substantial issue for a long time going forward. I don't find it possible at this time to recommend SOAP or its accompanying technologies except to people who already are locked into them, typically because they need to communicate with someone else who has already adopted SOAP. (Because some people genuinely need to use SOAP thanks to such network effects, I do my best to keep up on SOAP and encourage others to do so as well, while acknowledging the defensive nature of such work.) At some point, "worse is better" can't quite hold the line (largely thanks to excessive requirements, I think), and it's time to reconsider designs which were suitable under lighter loads. I'm not convinced that the trouble in SOAP justifies its benefits, and I strongly recommend that people with the freedom to do so explore other XML messaging alternatives. BEEP[2] is an interesting possibility. [1] - http://www.naggum.no/worse-is-better.html (Richard Gabriel, 1991.) [2] - http://www.beepcore.org/
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