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Fundamental Design
Terminology and Concepts
    Introduction
    Design Characteristic
    Design Principle
    Design Paradigm
    Design Pattern
    Design Standard
    Best Practice

Elements of
Service-Oriented Computing
    Introduction
    Service-Oriented
Architecture (SOA)
    Services and
Service-Orientation
    Service Compositions
    Service Inventory
    A Conceptual View of
Service-Oriented Computing
    A Physical View of
Service-Oriented Computing

Goals and Benefits of
Service-Oriented Computing
    Introduction
    Increased Intrinsic Interoperability
    Increased Federation
    Increased Vendor Diversification Options
    Increased Business and Technology Alignment
    Increased ROI
    Increased
Organizational Agility
    Reduced IT Burden

Service-Oriented Computing
in the Real World
    Services as Web Services
    About Web Services (Part I)
    About Web Services (Part II)
    Service Models and
Service Layers
    Service Inventory Blueprints
    Service-Oriented Analysis
    Service-Oriented Design

Resources
    SOA Book Series
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    SOAPatterns.org
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A Physical View of Service-Oriented Computing

Home > Elements of Service-Oriented Computing > A Physical View of Service-Oriented Computing

To fully appreciate how service-oriented computing elements are ultimately used we need to explore how they translate into the real world. To do so, we need to clearly distinguish the role and position of each element within a physical implementation perspective, as follows:
- Service-oriented solution logic is implemented as services and service compositions designed in accordance with service-orientation design principles.
- A service composition is comprised of services that have been assembled to provide the functionality required to automate a specific business task or process.
- Because service-orientation shapes many services as agnostic enterprise resources, one service may be invoked by multiple consumer programs, each of which can involve that same service in a different service composition.
- A collection of standardized services can form the basis of a service inventory that can be independently administered within its own physical deployment environment.
- Multiple business processes can be automated by the creation of service compositions that draw from a pool of existing agnostic services that reside within a service inventory.
- Service-oriented architecture is a form of technology architecture optimized in support of services, service compositions, and service inventories.
This implementation-centric view brings to light how service-oriented computing can change the overall complexion of an enterprise. Because the majority of services delivered are positioned as reusable resources agnostic to business processes, they do not belong to any one application silo. By dissolving boundaries between applications, the enterprise is increasingly represented by a growing body of services that exist within an expanding service inventory.


Figure: A service inventory establishes a pool of services, many of which will be deliberately designed to be reused within multiple service compositions.

The Prentice Hall Service-Oriented Computing Series from Thomas Erl
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