confusion on HTTP and SOAP

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gk - 18 Dec 2006 09:57 GMT

confusion on HTTP and SOAP

when we talk about web services , i get confused with HTTP and SOAP.
both are protocol ...right ? and both are used in web service.

but they have some different role.

HTTP carries the request from one server to another server.

what SOAP does then ? it says "Simple Object Access Protocol".

i am confused what exactly SOAP is doing in web service.

i found its messaging protocol ...huh ...very bad words.

Not able to understand how SOAP and HTTP are related .

could you please explain what SOAP does and what HTTP does in WEB
SERVICE.

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wesley.hall@gmail.com - 18 Dec 2006 11:28 GMT

> could you please explain what SOAP does and what HTTP does in WEB
> SERVICE.

How about an analogy?

Your webservice is like one person sending a letter to another person
to ask for information, or for a service.

HTTP is the postal service that is responsible for getting your letter
from one place to another, it knows how to interperate an address, and
how to transport information (and is built on lower level systems, like
roads, and postal (zip) codes).

SOAP is the format of information in your letter. It is important that
both the sender and receiver agree on a format for information
exchange, in the case of a letter, this format might be 'the english
language', in the case of a webservice, it may be SOAP.

So, in a webservice, HTTP is the transport system used to move your
SOAP message from the sender to the receiver.

It is possible to use another transport service to move SOAP messages,
such as SMTP (email). It is also possible to use HTTP as the transport
service but chose another communication format, such as XML-RPC.

The transport service, does not dictate the communications protocol and
vice versa, just as you can send someone a letter in english, or phone
them up and speak to them in german :)

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gk - 19 Dec 2006 10:55 GMT

> > could you please explain what SOAP does and what HTTP does in WEB
> > SERVICE.
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
> exchange, in the case of a letter, this format might be 'the english
> language', in the case of a webservice, it may be SOAP.

but is it SOAP or XML ?

ok..you mean , the message in written in a XML style and its called a
SOAP message because there are tags which has carries "soap" tags
like soap enevlope etc etc.

but why its called a protocol ? i like it to be said a FORMAT or simply
a message format .

because protocol means when there are something in
communication....for example HTTP is a protocol because it carry
something.

but SOAP is a message format or infact an well decorated message
format ......why you call it a simple object access PROTOCOL ?

i like it to be said as "simple object access message format" .

whats your comment on it ?

> So, in a webservice, HTTP is the transport system used to move your
> SOAP message from the sender to the receiver.
>
> It is possible to use another transport service to move SOAP messages,
> such as SMTP (email). It is also possible to use HTTP as the transport
> service but chose another communication format, such as XML-RPC.

> The transport service, does not dictate the communications protocol and
> vice versa, just as you can send someone a letter in english, or phone
> them up and speak to them in german :)

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wesley.hall@gmail.com - 19 Dec 2006 11:07 GMT

>why its called a protocol ?

Because it is a protocol, it is your definition of protocol that is
confused.

A protocol is an agreed method of communication. The english language
is a protocol because we agree on what each word means (except the word
'protocol' ;o)).

SOAP is a protocol because it is an agreed method of communication,
both the sender and receiver can 'speak' SOAP.

HTTP is a protocol because but the sending HTTP client and the receving
HTTP server can 'speak' HTTP.

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gk - 19 Dec 2006 11:56 GMT

> >why its called a protocol ?
>
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
> HTTP is a protocol because but the sending HTTP client and the receving
> HTTP server can 'speak' HTTP.

ok...nice explanation.

does every transport protocol can carry SOAP message ?

you told SMTP , JMS (apart from HTTP) ....etc can carry SOAP message .
say T1 protocol in weblogic or iiop protocol ...these are also
transport protocol ....are these protocol also can carry SOAP messages
?

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wesley.hall@gmail.com - 19 Dec 2006 12:47 GMT

> > >why its called a protocol ?
> >
[quoted text clipped - 14 lines]
>
> does every transport protocol can carry SOAP message ?

You can, theorectically, transmit SOAP messages on top of any system
capable of moving bytes from one location to another. There are certain
cases where it doesn't make much sense to do things this way. I am
afraid I do not have the time to explain to you which mechanisms might
be appropriate and which might not, it would simply take to long, but
to give you (yet another) analogy, if me and you met in the street...
we COULD, in theory, clap our hands in morse code to communicate, but
this would be silly an inefficient as, when face to face, there are
better ways to communicate. If we were on two seperate ships at sea,
then radiowave based morse code might be appropriate.

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Mike Schilling - 18 Dec 2006 20:02 GMT

> confusion on HTTP and SOAP
>
[quoted text clipped - 15 lines]
> could you please explain what SOAP does and what HTTP does in WEB
> SERVICE.

HTTP is a transport mechanism. It takes care of getting message from client
to server and back, but knows nothing about the format of the messages.

SOAP is a dialect of XML; it defines the format of the message, e.g. the
SOAP envelope, headers, and body. SOAP messages can be sent oiver a variety
of transports (HTTP, JMS, SMTP, etc) but HTTP is by far the most common.

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confusion on HTTP and SOAP

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