The first part of this book introduces you to Service-Oriented Architectures (SOAs) and Web services. The three chapters of this part cover service orientation, background, and Web services.

Chapter 1, “SOA,” starts by motivating the current trend toward service orientation and then explains what it is and how it differs from other technologies. The chapter wraps up by articulating the structure of a framework for service orientation.

Chapter 2, “Background,” presents a brief review of some key background concepts that are used throughout the book.

Chapter 3, “Web Services,” goes back to the service-oriented framework and introduces Web services as a realization of that platform. It briefly covers each of the specifications, which are discussed in detail in the rest of the book.