Real world XML Web services : for VB and VB .NET developers

"You are holding in your hands my favorite book on Web services and .NET...What else can I say? Buy this book now, and be prepared for a new way of coding!" —Keith Ballinger, Program Manager for XML Web Services, Microsoft "If you've been searching for a book that goes beyond the Web services hype, distills the benefits of the actual platform, look no further, you've found the right one." —Aaron Skonnard, Instructor and Author, DevelopMentor Real World XML Web Services is the Visual Basic programmer's definitive guide to designing and building .NET Web services. It provides experienced developers with a comprehensive understanding of Web services, covering everything from basic concepts and solutions to interoperability problems. This book begins with a concise and practical introduction to Web services and the foundation on which they are built, including Web Services Description Language (WSDL) and Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP). Readers learn by example how to use each tool for developing Web services, starting with the SOAP Toolkit and the .NET framework. Visual Basic programmers discover how to: Use XML Schema to define Web service messages Use SOAP for messaging and Remote Procedure Calls (RPC) Read and modify WSDL documents Build Web services with the SOAP Toolkit Create and invoke Web services using the .NET framework Implement SOAP headers and use SOAP Fault Develop interface-based Web services Handle data in .NET Web services including objects, arrays, and DataSets Use SOAP exreusable infrastructure for security and compression Use Universal Description Discovery and Integration (UDDI) at design time and run time Understand the architecture of other popular toolkits such as Apache SOAP for Java and learn how to solve interoperability problems The book closes by walking the reader through the creation of a Web service with .NET and Visual Basic 6 clients. Real World XML Web Services empowers Visual Basic programmers to design and build the next generation of applications using Web services. I purchased this book from Amazon mainly relying upon the reviews written by other people. As it turns out I can only assume that the other reviews were paid for either by the author or by the press. The book is REALLY HARD TO READ, we are talking as dry as the sphinx's arm pit. The CD rom that comes with it contains the examples, however these are a mish-mash of VB6 and some .Net neither of which run easily. The .Net versions require updating in Visual Studio and can have some odd results. Some examples are even written with the server component in VB6 and the client in .Net - confusing to say the least. If you want to learn how to practically implement a Web Service using VB then you should NOT look at this book. Most of the first 4 chapters are all about XML schemas and what they mean - with no "Real World" examples of how to create them in VB just the code of the schemas already created. And another thing there is a large chunk of information about a "Real World" authentication and encryption implementation, however and I quote "I recommend that you use off-the shelf security implementations" - The author wouldn't even use this code! Microsoft has a Web services extension designed for authentication which the author doesn't mention anywhere. Very disappointment to have spent good dollars on this book. I will be trying desperately to get my money back from Amazon. Web services are the next revolution in the way applications are built and used. This book will give developers the information they need to design and build next generation distributed interoperable applications with Web services. It has a unique blend of theory and practice, and is focused on Visual Basic developers. Provides developers with a comprehensive understanding of Web services, covering everything from basic concepts and solutions to interoperability problems. Empowers Visual Basic programmers to design and build the next generation of applications using Web services. Softcover. CD-ROM included.