.NET under the microscope
ZDNet | at | by Mike
Much of .Net's success rides on whether Microsoft can sell enterprises on the benefits of Web services -- which basically boil down to component reusability and rapid, inexpensive integration across platforms. The .Net Framework uses XML for data representation by default and provides easy access to Simple Object Access Protocol (Soap) interfaces. Ordinary methods -- chunks of code making up procedures -- can be turned into Web services simply by adding the attribute "WebMethod" before each declaration, but are otherwise unchanged. .Net also automatically creates a Web Services Description Language (WSDL) document that describes services in a standard manner: it is possible, according to programmers, to turn out a simple Web service application in a morning.
Microsoft continues to aggressively develop .Net, with additional features such as the Web Services Enhancements class library. These were introduced as version 1.0 last December and previewed as version 2.0 in July, and add many features such as encryption, digital signatures, message routing and attachment encapsulation. At the same time, the company unveiled new and more capable conversion tools designed to move Java projects over into the .Net world.