This book is a comprehensive guide to the usage and syntax of the Business Process Execution Language for Web Services (BPEL4WS). Two major BPEL4WS servers, the Oracle BPEL Process Manager and Microsoft BizTalk Server 2004 are covered in detail, and an overview of other major BPEL4WS servers is provided. The book contains practical examples on using BPEL4WS.
Web services provide the core functionality for distributed e-business applications using SOAP, WSDL and UDDI. These building blocks can then be orchestrated into a complete business process using BPEL4WS.
Web services provide the basic technical platform required for application interoperability. They do not, however, provide higher level control, such as which web services need to be invoked, which operations should be called and in what sequence. Nor do they provide ways to describe the semantics of interfaces, the workflows, or e-business processes. BPEL is the missing link to assemble and integrate web services into a real business process
BPEL4WS standardizes process automation between web services. This applies both within the enterprise, where BPEL4WS is used to integrate previously isolated systems, and between enterprises, where BPEL4WS enables easier and more effective integration with business partners.
In providing a standard descriptive structure BPEL4WS enables enterprises to define their business processes during the design phase. Wider business benefits can flow from this through business process optimization, reengineering, and the selection of most appropriate processes.
Supported by major vendors — including BEA, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Microsoft, Novell, Oracle, SAP, Sun, and others — BPEL4WS is becoming the accepted standard for business process management.
This book provides detailed coverage of BPEL4WS, its syntax, and where, and how, it is used. It begins with an overview of web services, showing both the foundation of, and need for, BPEL. The web services orchestration stack is explained, including standards such as WS-Security, WS-Coordination, WS-Transaction, WS-Addressing, and others. The BPEL language itself is explained in detail, with Code snippets and complete examples illustrating both its syntax and typical construction. Having covered BPEL itself, the book then goes on to show BPEL is used in context. by providing an overview of major BPEL4WS servers. It covers the Oracle BPEL Process Manager and Microsoft BizTalk Server 2004 in detail, and shows how to write BPEL4WS solutions using these servers.
Matjaz B. Juric Matjaz B. Juric holds a Ph.D. in computer and information science. He works for the University of Maribor. He has co-authored Professional J2EE EAI, Professional EJB, J2EE Design Patterns Applied, and VB.NET Serialization Handbook, published by Wrox Press. He has published chapters in the book More Java Gems (Cambridge University Press) and in Technology Supporting Business Solutions (Nova Science Publishers). He has also published in journals and magazines such as Java Developer's Journal, Java Report, Java World, Web Services Journal, eai Journal, ACM journals, and presented at conferences such as OOPSLA, SIGS Java Development, XML Europe, SCI, and others. He is also a reviewer, program committee member, and conference co-organizer. Matjaz has been involved in several large-scale object technology projects. In association with the IBM Java Technology Centre, he worked on performance analysis and optimization in RMI-IIOP development, an integral part of the Java 2 Platform.! He has recently been classified in the Techiindex Evangelist.
Benny Mathew Benny Mathew is a Sr. Software Engineer at Hewlett-Packard (Global Delivery India Center). He holds a Masters degree in Computer Applications. His fascination for computers dates back to high school days and he has been programming with a passion for more than a decade and a half. He has also co-authored Visual Basic .NET Reflection Handbook published by Wrox press. During his free time, Benny likes to write technical articles and help people on the newsgroups relating to .NET technologies and has been awarded Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) for two consecutive years now. Before joining Hewlett Packard, he was with companies like Thomson Financials and Delphi Software in Bangalore India. You can reach him at benny@mvps.org.
Poornachandra Sarang Poornachandra Sarang, Ph.D., is CEO of ABCOM Information Systems. He has been a Visiting Professor of Computer Engineering at University of Notre Dame, USA and is currently a visiting professor for Post-Graduate Computer Science courses at University of Mumbai. Dr. Sarang provides consulting services to worldwide clients in architecting and designing IT solutions based on Java, CORBA, and Microsoft platforms. A well known and a highly sought after trainer, Dr. Sarang has conducted several training programs on latest technologies for several top-notch IT companies. He conducts lectures/seminars on emerging technologies across the world and has made several presentations in international conferences. He has authored/co-authored several books on Java, C++, J2EE, e-Commerce, and .NET.
