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in reply to (OT) Webservices – really progress?

An administrator ... would have to close port 80 as soon as a mechnism to execute arbitrary functions is available on it.

This is a bit misleading, since web services aren't about executing arbitrary functions. (Though a poorly implemented SOAP server can do nearly that.) Web Services will most likely deploy within an Intranet or VPN. Living out in the wild may prove to be the exception.

I suspect the author of that letter to the editor is miffed that his favorite protocol is no longer on the top of theheap.

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Re^2: (OT) Webservices - really progress?
by Aristotle (Chancellor) on Aug 24, 2002 at 18:53 UTC

    SOAP means Simple Object Access Protocol; it is nothing but a fancy remote procedure call mechanism.

    Granted living out in the wild and totally open to anyone will likely be an exception. However, webservices are touted as the tool for electronic B2B and as such, they will have to live in semi-private situations in the wild where they aren't necessarily open to anyone, but certainly accessible.

    Makeshifts last the longest.

[reply]
      SOAP means Simple Object Access Protocol; it is nothing but a fancy remote procedure call mechanism.

      Yes. This means that a correct implementation can only invoke a remote procedure by identifier. Unfortunately, at least one buggy implementation has allowed callers to invoke arbitrary Perl code on the server. This muddies the waters.

[reply]

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