What are the key principles and practices of service-oriented architecture?

2 Service abstraction

Service abstraction is the principle of hiding the internal logic, complexity, and configuration of a service from its consumers. It allows the service to expose only the essential information and functionality that is relevant and useful to the consumers. Service abstraction enables the service to be loosely coupled, modular, and flexible. It also enhances the security, maintainability, and reusability of the service.

3 Service discovery

Service discovery is the process of finding and locating available services that match the needs and criteria of a consumer. Service discovery can be performed dynamically or statically, depending on the level of automation and flexibility required. Service discovery can use various mechanisms, such as registries, directories, brokers, or metadata repositories, to store and retrieve information about the services. Service discovery can also use various protocols, such as SOAP, REST, or UDDI, to communicate and exchange information between the services and the consumers.

4 Service composition

Service composition is the practice of combining and orchestrating multiple services to create a new or enhanced functionality or value. Service composition can be achieved at different levels, such as business process, application, or data. Service composition can use various patterns, such as orchestration, choreography, or mediation, to coordinate and control the interaction and collaboration between the services. Service composition can also use various standards, such as BPEL, BPMN, or WS-Coordination, to model and execute the service workflows.

5 Service governance

Service governance is the set of policies, rules, standards, and best practices that guide and regulate the design, development, deployment, operation, and evolution of services. Service governance aims to ensure the quality, consistency, reliability, and security of the services. Service governance also involves the monitoring, measurement, and evaluation of the performance, availability, and usage of the services. Service governance can use various tools, such as frameworks, repositories, registries, or dashboards, to support and facilitate the governance activities.

6 Service reuse

Service reuse is the benefit and goal of creating and using services that are designed and implemented to be reusable across different contexts, domains, and applications. Service reuse can reduce the cost, time, and effort of software development and maintenance. Service reuse can also increase the efficiency, productivity, and innovation of software solutions. Service reuse can be achieved by following the principles and practices of SOA, such as service contract, service abstraction, service discovery, service composition, and service governance.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?