IBM, Java, and the Future of Web Services (Continued)
IBM's Goals for the SDK
FTPOnline: What is IBM trying to achieve by releasing the SDK?
Sutor: Generally, what we're trying to achieve is a baseline environment for Web services in a Java environment. We tried to say, "These are the pieces we think you need to get started with Web services." In particular, as we see things coming out of the Web Services Interoperability Organization (WS-I), "These are the standards and profiles." We'll translate those things into actual code in future versions of the SDK.
FTPOnline: How does the SDK compare with other Java development environments?
Sutor: In comparison to the SDK, WebSphere is the fully supported product, with all the properties and all the visual tools. Everything in the SDK will be in a future version of WebSphere. The SDK doesn't have all the bells and whistles—we're focusing on Web services capabilities.
The SDK highlights the solid community-driven Java support for Web services, and as WebSphere evolves, it will be part of the picture. If you're making comparisons to other vendors' tools, you can compare to WebSphere Studio, which has tools and wizards to develop Web services.
FTPOnline: What's in the SDK?
Sutor: You get a Java environment, a UDDI registry, a database, various libraries you need to manipulate SOAP and WSDL, white papers, samples, and so on.
If you separate the basic functionality from the extremely new features coming in, you can add on our Web Services Toolkit (WSTK) from alphaWorks, which has the latest thoughts about how to deal with security, and what different pieces to layer on top of that. Then, if you want to go on to the WebSphere level, you get wizards, debuggers, and so on. That's the appropriate level of comparison.
What we're saying, through the SDK, across the industry, is that this is what people should be supporting, as a minimal definition for Web services. This is the baseline of what anybody, from a Java perspective, should support.
The SDK is a collection of different pieces the standards groups are interested in, such as UDDI and Java. Its packaging and comprehensiveness are important.
Java is the underlying level. Web services are not fundamentally about Java, but Java is a great implementation and invocation environment for Web services. The SDK establishes the baseline. Anybody offering Web services across environments would offer these things.
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