Java programmers who like the open source Spring Framework can develop applications for Web services using the newly released Spring Web Services 1.0 stack. The stack works with common Web service technologies, such as plain old XML, the SOAP message transport envelope and Web Services Description Language (WSDL). WSDL is an XML document that describes a service, as well as its location and operations.
Spring Web Services 1.0 uses the contract-first development style only for publish-and-describe Web services. The contract-first approach delivers a WSDL contract first, and then Java is used as a means to implement that contract.
The contract-first approach avoids interoperability issues and simplifies development, according to an announcement issued by Interface21, which is the sustaining organization for the Spring Framework and a provider of open source software for enterprise applications.
