mis-speak Re: [MOBY-dev] surprising results with speed tests:

[Martin Senger]

> > Martin - in what way is CGI not language-neutral, and therefore
> > preferable to SOAP? 
>
   The API of BioMoby Central is designed in a way that it really does not
matter much if the registry is called by SOAP or pure HTTP/CGI protocol.
Because the API hides all details in XML payloads - it makes anyway
difficult to use some of the features that SOAP has but CGI has not, such
as an (semi-)automatic invocation by using a WSDL of the registry.
   But there are still some features in SOAP that make this type of
communication more transparent and more interoperable, such as:
   - SOAP is self-documenented using wsdl files
   - SOAP toolkits for individual languages are more consistent than 
libraries for CGI communication (they may still suffer from 
interoperability bugs but they are used in a unified ways)
   - SOAP has many standards defined or close to be finished (richer 
security model that the pure HTTP/CGI, WS-transaction, SOAP headers for 
request routings,...)
   - SOAP services are better integrate-able into workflows (because of 
their self-documentation etc.).

   But as I said the point is possibly not in the differences between SOAP 
and CGI - but in the API design. As long as the API remains as it is now 
it actually substitues some of the SOAP features (such as creating a 
payloads already in XML) and therefore SOAP itself has less to offer here.

   Martin

-- 
Martin Senger

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