#1 | Web Services

Eládio Tchiinhemba — Tue, 09 Jan 2024 09:54:27 +0000

Today, let's discuss a bit about Web Services.

It's common for us to forget things over time, so today, let's revisit something that many may no longer recall.

Talking about Web Services, means realizing that they are nothing more and nothing less than solutions for applications to communicate with each other, in other words, for one application to talk to another, regardless of language, software, or hardware (regardless of the platform).

Initially, Web Services were created for message exchange using the XML (Extensible Markup Language) over the HTTP protocol, identified by a URI (Uniform Resource Identifier).

In summary, we can say that:

Web Services are APIs that communicate over networks using the HTTP protocol.

Note: Every Web Service is an API, but not every API is a Web Service.

APIs can run on different protocols, but Web Services run only on the HTTP protocol.

In this case, a Web Service ends up being an API that runs on the web.

URI: It's almost the same as a URL.

Advantages

Common Language

Due to the existence of many programming languages nowadays, making two different systems communicate is challenging. However, you can use a common language between both involved applications, such as JSON or XML.

Integration

Since both applications have a common language for information exchange, new integrations become easier.

Implementation Reusability

As the output is always the same, reusing this implementation becomes much easier.

Security

The Web Service takes care of everything; the rest remains in the intranet, and only the Web Service has access to the database.

Costs

In terms of cost, integrating becomes more affordable, especially if you have a Web Service. With it, you don't need to create new solutions for clients who want to access your data.

Key Technologies

Architectures used in Web Services!
SOAP
It is more related to XML and will always be used with it.

REST

It can be related to XML or JSON, as well as other markup languages.

About the Subject: Please make sure to share your perspective in the comments! This way, we become more consistent. And if this content is somehow conveying a wrong idea, feel free to correct it. It will be very helpful for me and the community.

DEV Community: Eládio Tchiinhemba