[mod_python] SOAP / Web Services handler

On 14/06/2005, at 6:17 PM, Gregory Bond wrote:

>> The upshot is that I have to agree with
>> Graham D's response: use XML-RPC: it's well standardized and usable
>> from a huge number of clients with minimal effort.
>
> I was under the impression that MS web services were SOAP based not 
> XML-RPC based?

If you are writing some new services, does it matter what MS uses for 
there own?
If you are having to write clients against MS web services then I can 
understand
the need to talk SOAP, but other than that SOAP wouldn't be my first 
choice, or
my second, or my third, ....

> I'm a complete newbie when it comes to Web Services, but the 
> requirement is pretty much that Joe Punter somewhere on the web can 
> use his normal PC dev tools and code up calls to my Python functions 
> (in VB, Excel or Visual Studio etc) just as easily/conveniently as if 
> I had published the service using IIS or whatever is the official 
> MS-blessed way of doing this.
> My international colleagues are using WebLogic or JBOSS for doing web 
> services, but they are a java shop and all my logic is in python!

Hmmm, I have never seen the words "easily/conveniently" mentioned in 
conjunction
with SOAP before. I also wouldn't assume that just because you publish 
a SOAP
API that someone will go to the effort of specially writing clients to 
use it.
The only SOAP API I have seen really take off in that way was Google 
search.

> You are in a maze of twisty little acronyms, all different.

Sounds just like SOAP. :-)

Sorry if I sound cynical. You might find the following an interesting 
read:

   http://www.manageability.org/blog/stuff/soap-is-dead

Reminded me that the other alternative to SOAP/XML-RPC is REST style 
web services.

Graham