3.3. Summary

The focus of this chapter was on the server-side proxy for HTTP requests and web services. The first part discussed the proxy configuration and characteristics of the HTTP service. In the second part the discussion was extended to include web services.

It was established early on that both the HTTP service and web services can be accessed directly without a proxy for trusted domains. In cases where the service domains don't define an appropriate security policy in a crossdomain.xml file or where features beyond those offered through direct access are desired, developers can choose to leverage the proxy capabilities of BlazeDS.

The HTTPProxyService uses the Apache HttpClient to make the HTTP calls. The adapter for the proxy service, therefore, allows configuration of the connection manager for the HttpClient. In addition, the service and destination configuration can include settings for aspects like cookie limits, security constraints, and the content chunking policy.

The HTTP proxy service allows for server-side interception and control. This can be useful for applying cross-cutting concerns, for logging, and for more effective management.

Like the HTTP proxy service, a web services proxy service allows for tunneling web service requests and responses through a server-side proxy. The benefits of server-side control and enhanced features are applicable here, too.

Flex supports RPC/encoded and document/literal style/use WSDL bindings for Web services. These bindings were revisited in the section on the web services proxy. In the section on web services proxy configuration, wsdl and soap settings were discussed.

This chapter built on what you have learned in the first two chapters. The next chapter continues the journey of exploring BlazeDS and moves on to remote procedure calls that involve objects.