Simple Object Access Protocol

SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol)?is a network protocol designed for exchanging structured data between nodes. Here are the key points about SOAP:

Purpose and Format:

• SOAP uses?XML format?to transfer messages
• It operates on top of application layer protocols like?HTTP?and?SMTP?for notation and transmission.
• SOAP allows processes to communicate across platforms, languages, and operating systems since protocols like HTTP are already installed on all platforms.

Message Structure:

A SOAP message consists of three main parts:

• Envelope: Specifies that the XML message is a SOAP message. It encapsulates the header and body.
• Header: Optional but provides crucial information about the applications.
• Body: Contains the actual message being transmitted.
• Fault: Optional section that contains application status and errors.

Advantages of SOAP:

• Lightweight data interchange protocol based on XML.
• OS and platform-independent.
• Built on top of?HTTP, which is widely installed.
• Suggested by the?W3 Consortium?for Web Services and APIs.

SOPA enables applications to interact in a distributed environment, supporting communication between different operating systems and programming languages.

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