"c" <me@somewhere.com> wrote in message news:eC**************@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
We have an API that has an XML interface. We have a client who has a .NET
application and wants to use our API.
Why will SOAP make life easier for our client?
It allows your customer to consider competing solutions, and
decouples them from your XML interface (especially if that XML
interface was developed in-house and isn't conformant to other
prevailing industry standards).
It also allows the customer the flexibility to use off-the-shelf
SOAP components, giving them greater latitude in the IT
device(s) they use now and in the future to access your
web service.
For example, if they want to develop an interface to your
service on handheld mobile devices, they can build it using
commercially available SOAP solutions for that platform.
They can write the application themself, often with one line,
soapProxy.DoYourService( );
And wire that up to their UI, reporting system, or what have
they. If the customer chooses your XML interface, then the
interface to your service requires the customer to implement
a specialized adapter on each platform they may consider.
SOAP is freedom for the customer, your XML interface may
be (quite possibly), locking them in.
Derek Harmon