November 1, 2001 - Web Services-Based Applications
Microsoft is already sporting several commercial applications that were written in a record speed, thanks to the use of XML Web services. The first one is from Dollar Rent-A-Car. In two weeks, programmers built, tested, and deployed a Web Services-based solution that translates reservation requests and data between the company's mainframe-based reservation system and an airline partner's UNIX servers. Dollar can now reuse the same integration model to link their reservation system with other airline or hotel partners. The second case is expedia.com. This is a site that will find you the lowest price itinerary. They are now in the process of transforming itineraries into communication centers. These centers are Web services that users can access to get relevant and timely information at their convenience. With this new service, Expedia hopes to attract new customers and further strengthen the loyalty of their existing customer base.
You can call Web services from JavaScript. In upcoming tips and columns we'll cover the motivation and the implementation of Web services, and how to use them from JavaScript.
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