REDMOND, Wash., April 26, 2000 — Microsoft Corp. today announced the availability of the latest version of the Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) specification on the MSDN TM developer program Web site (http://msdn.microsoft.com/). SOAP is an open standards-based interoperability protocol that uses the Extensible Markup Language (XML) to provide a common messaging format to link together any applications and services anywhere on the Internet. This new version extends SOAP’s asynchronous messaging capabilities and enables support for the Internet protocols SMTP, FTP and TCP/IP in addition to existing support for HTTP. These new capabilities further bolster SOAP’s ability to integrate heterogeneous applications within the enterprise or diverse trading partners across the Internet. The specification was initially developed last fall by DevelopMentor Inc., Microsoft and UserLand Software Inc.; IBM Corp. and Lotus Development Corp. join as authors with version 1.1.
“SOAP provides an open integration fabric for Web services in which any application or device can interact with any other over the Internet,”
said Paul Maritz, group vice president of the Platform Group at Microsoft.
“The latest version of SOAP reflects both the fruits of an open and collaborative design process as well as considerable developer input since the publication of the initial specification last fall.”
According to David Smith of Gartner Group, SOAP is the right technological approach to a more loosely coupled communication model for the Internet and its move toward e-services.*
The latest version of the SOAP specification has garnered broad industry support from companies such as ActiveState Tool Corp., Ariba Inc., BORN Information Services Inc., Commerce One Inc., Compaq Computer Corp., DevelopMentor Inc., Extensibility Inc., IBM, IONA Technologies PLC, Intel Corp., Lotus Development Corp., ObjectSpace Inc., Rogue Wave Software Inc., Scriptics Corp., Secret Labs AB, UserLand Software and Zveno Pty. Ltd.
The SOAP specification provides a common mechanism for integrating services on the Internet and/or intranet regardless of operating system, object model or programming language. Through its reliance on Internet-standard XML and HTTP, SOAP enables any new or existing applications to communicate with one another. By supporting SOAP, Web sites can become Web services that are accessible programmatically without requiring human initiation or intermediation. With a common integration fabric for direct interaction between software connected to the Internet, new opportunities abound in aggregation, federation and integration of services and devices located anywhere on the Internet.
More information about SOAP can be obtained by visiting the MSDN Web site at http://msdn.microsoft.com/ or sending e-mail to [email protected] .
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