Java web services doubts

Question

I want to start java web services with JAX-RPC/JAX-WS/JAX-RS style and have idea about xml/wsdl/soap. But still have doubts in starting the implementation :

• Which soap implementation (Axis/CXF etc.) I should start with, so that I can easily adapt to other soap implementation after getting one?
• Is there any default implementation to start with instead of switching to vendor specific implementations?
• Is there any book(s) that can provide step by step information on these implementations?
• Do you really think that it (JAX-RPC) is completely obsolete? I think you need to understand its basics too for giving support to existing services. Isn't it?
• Is it possible to implement service without annotations?
• What is difference between SOA and Web-Services?

Thanks.

Answer 1

Which soap implementation (Axis/CXF etc.) I should start with, so that I can easily adapt to other soap implementation after getting one?

These are different (and very popular) frameworks. You pick one or the other and use it. It is not customary or easy to swap frameworks

Is there any default implementation to start with instead of switching to vendor specific implementations?

Not sure what you mean here. Java has defined a JSR for web services and there is Metro as reference implementation so anything that doesn't use eg a specific for Glassfish deployment would count as non-vendor specific.
I would recommend that you use either Axis 2 or CXF as they are very popular frameworks and have many online tutorials.

Is there any book(s) that can provide step by step information on these implementations?

There are many resources but you will need to look into something more specific.
If you go for Axis 2 or CXF you will find many online tutorials

Do you really think that it (JAX-RPC) is completely obsolete? I think you need to understand its basics too for giving support to existing services. Isn't it?

Yes it is obsolete. It is the old specification. Don't need to look into it.

Is it possible to implement service without annotations?

Of course it is. All tutorials usually show example of starting a Web Service using annotations and also starting a Web Service from a WSDL ie you first create a WSDL and the web service (stubs) are autogenerated

What is difference between SOA and Web-Services?

Web Services are used as one of the implementation technologies to offer SOA .
There is no book specifying differences between these 2 technologies since one is an implementation component of the other. If you need to learn about SOA there are plenty books. Is this question about a book recomendation?

Answer 2

Which soap implementation (Axis/CXF etc.) I should start with, so that I can easily adapt to other soap implementation after getting one?

If you want to be able to adapt from one impl to another, you would need to use pure JAX-WS API's. You can actually start with the JAX-WS impl found in the JDK and then migrate to CXF r Metro (and maybe Axis 2, Axis2 is not JAX-WS certified like CXF and Metro are) as your requirements change or additional features are needed.

You can also see my similar answer at:

Difference between Apache CXF and Axis

Is there any default implementation to start with instead of switching to vendor specific implementations?

JAX-WS in the JDK, then to CXF or Metro.

Is there any book(s) that can provide step by step information on these implementations?

The CXF Resources and Articles page lists two books, one that covers both CXF and Axis2.

http://cxf.apache.org/resources-and-articles.html

Do you really think that it (JAX-RPC) is completely obsolete? I think you need to understand its basics too for giving support to existing services. Isn't it?

Obsolete. Don't worry about it.

Is it possible to implement service without annotations?

With CXF, yes, but it's certainly better to use the annotations. The annotations provide much more control over what happens at runtime, how the wsdl is created (if doing java first development), etc...