name origin of “WebService”

Question

WebServices are one possible implementation of a SOA, so there comes the name "Services" from. But why are they called *WEB*Service? Is it because they use web technologies and protocols (HTTP, XML, ...) for the implementation?

Answer 1

Straight from wikipedia:

The W3C defines a "Web service" as "a software system designed to support interoperable machine-to-machine interaction over a network. It has an interface described in a machine-processable format (specifically Web Services Description Language WSDL). Other systems interact with the Web service in a manner prescribed by its description using SOAP messages, typically conveyed using HTTP with an XML serialization in conjunction with other Web-related standards."[1]

Source: http://www.w3.org/TR/2004/NOTE-ws-gloss-20040211/

As to the origin of the word:

Web - (Referring to the "World Wide Web") N. a vast computer network linking smaller computer networks worldwide (usually preceded by the ). the Internet includes commercial, educational, governmental, and other networks, all of which use the same set of communications protocols.

Service - N. an act of helpful activity; help; aid: to do someone a service.

So a "Web Service" is some sort of helpful utility / function that is accessible over the global computer to computer network we call "the Web". Typically these "web services" interact with users via traditional web protocols like HTTP and XML (or JSON).

Answer 2

yeah, i think because transport is/was based on Web technologies (SOAP). WCF no longer users that WebMethod technology and uses Contract based terminology instead