The W3C defines a Web Service as “a software system designed to support interoperable Machine to Machine interaction over a network”. Web services are frequently just Web APIs that can be accessed over a network, such as the Internet, and executed on a remote system hosting the requested services.

Examples of web services deployed today are those supported by information utilities such as FedEx, Amazon, eBay, and more.  By using such web services, you can programmatically post a listing on eBay, order a book on Amazon, or schedule a shipment on FedEx. (more…)