xdocs/index.html - axis-axis2-java-core - Git at Google

 <title>Apache Axis2 - Next Generation Web Services</title>
 <h2>Welcome to Apache Axis2</h2>

 <p>
 Apache Axis2 is an implementation of the
 <a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/soap/">Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP)
 Recommendation</a> from the <a href="http://www.w3.org">W3C</a>.  Axis2 can be used
 to provide and consume Web Services.
 </p>

 <p>From the <a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/soap/">W3C recommendation</a>:
 <div style="padding-left: 20px; padding-top: 5px; font-style:italic;">"SOAP is a lightweight protocol for exchange of information in a decentralized,
 distributed environment. It is an XML based protocol that consists of three parts:
 an envelope that defines a framework for describing what is in a message and how to
 process it, a set of encoding rules for expressing instances of application-defined
 datatypes, and a convention for representing remote procedure calls and responses."
 </div>
 </p>

 <p>
 Apache Axis2 is an effort to re-implement both Axis/Java and
 Axis/C++ on a new architecture.  Building upon the &quot;handler chain&quot; model
 developed in Axis1, Axis2 introduces a more
 flexible pipeline architecture which lends itself to greater modularity
 and extensibility.  This extensibility will allow Axis2 to act as a
 foundation for a growing constellation of associated Web Services protocols including:
 <ul>
   <li><a href="http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/tc_home.php?wg_abbrev=wsrm">WS-ReliableMessaging</a></li>
   <li><a href="http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/tc_home.php?wg_abbrev=wss">WS-Security</a></li>
   <li><a href="http://www.w3.org/Submission/ws-addressing/">WS-Addressing</a>
 </ul>
 </p>

 <h2>Latest Release</h2>

 <p><b>12 August 2005 - Apache Axis2 Version 0.91 Released!</b> <a href="releases.html">(Download 0.91)</a>
 <p>Axis2 is becoming more and more stable. <a href="releases.html">Download it!</a>  This 0.91 release is a glimpse of 1.0
 that should be comming soon. This 0.91 release contains the following additional
 features:
 <ul>
   <li>File Caching for MTOM</li>
   <li>SOAP Faults based on the SOAP version and better fault handling </li>
   <li>Different character encoding support</li>
   <li>Improved infoset support in AXIOM</li>
   <li>Improved code generation templates</li>
   <li>Numerous bug fixes</li>
   </ul>
 We are getting closer to a 1.0 release, the remaining tasks to be completed
 before a 1.0 release include: SOAP 1.1 and 1.2 validation, JAX-RPC 1.1/2.0 compliance,
 Complete XML infoset support for AXIOM, implementation of JMS transport, and Web
 Service Policy support.</p>

 <h2>Axis2 Background and Motivation</h2>

 <p>
 Axis1 was built under the assumption that other protocols such as WS-ReliableMessaging
 would be integrated into Axis1's handler chain.  Axis1 had the concept of a
 MessageContext and a chain of transport, service, and global message handlers, but
 Axis1 lacked a clear extension architecture to enable clean composition of
 such layers. One of the key motivations for Axis2 is to provide a clean and
 simple environment for implementations of associated WS standards such as
 <a href="http://ws.apache.org/sandesha/">Apache Sandesha</a> and
 <a href="http://ws.apache.org/wss4j/">Apache WSS4J</a>.  Implementations of
 associated standards should be able to easily interface with the base
 SOAP Message handling system.   In summary, Axis2 has a more modular and
 flexible message handling pipeline, it focuses on the details of message handling
 and provides clear hooks for implementations of associated Web Services
 standards and protocols.  This evolution will allow Axis to be a foundational
 technology for next generation Web Services.
 </p>

 <p>
 Axis2 introduces a representation for SOAP messages called
 <b>AXIOM (AXIs Object Model)</b>. AXIOM consists of two parts: a complete XML Infoset
 representation and a SOAP Infoset representation. The XML Infoset
 representation provides a JDOM-esque API built atop a deferred model
 via a StAX-based (Streaming API for XML) pull parsing API. A key feature of AXIOM
 is that it allows one to stop building the XML tree and just access the pull stream
 directly; thus enabling both maximum flexibility and maximum performance. This
 approach allows Axis2 to support multiple levels of abstraction for consuming and
 offering Web services: using plain AXIOM, using generated code and statically
 data-bound data types and so on.  Developers with demanding performance
 requirements will be able to use AXIOM to create highly scaleable Web Services.
 </p>

 <p>
 A third shift in Axis 2 is the de-emphasis of RPC-oriented Web
 Services and a shift towards more document-oriented, message style asynchronous
 service interactions.  With Axis2, clients can interact with servers in a number of
 ways, and the client API provides both a blocking and non-blocking API.  At the time of Axis1's design, RPC-style,
 synchronous, request-response interactions were the order of the day for Web
 services. Today service interactions are much more message-oriented and exploit
 many different message exchange patterns. The Axis2 engine architecture is careful
 to not build in any assumptions of request-response patterns to ensure that it can
 be used easily to support arbitrary message exchange patterns.
 Don't worry,you'll still be able to use Axis2 like you used Axis1, you'll just have a richer set
 of options for client-server interaction.
 </p>

 <h2>Archived News</h2>
 <p><b>02 July 2005 - Apache Axis2 Version 0.9 Released!</b> <a href="releases.html#0.9">(Download 0.9)</a></p>
 <p>Axis2 is taking shape. <a href="releases.html#0.9">Download it!</a> This 0.9 release is a glimpse of 1.0 that should be comming soon. This 0.9 release contains the following additional features:
 <ul>
   <li>XML Beans based data binding support</li>
   <li>Support for WS-Addressing, both the submission and final versions</li>
   <li>REST Web Service Support</li>
   <li>MTOM/SWA attachments support</li>
   <li>SAAJ implementation</li>
 </ul>
 <p><b>07 June 2005 - Apache Axis2 Milestone 2 (M2) Released</b> <a href="releases.html#M2">(Download M2)</a><p>Apache Axis2 is starting to take shape, features implemented in this
 second milestone release are:
 <ul>
     <li>Modules - a mechanism to extend the SOAP Processing Model</li>
     <li>Support for WS-Addressing</li>
     <li>Axis2 Client API - Blocking and Non-Blocking API</li>
     <li>Support for One-Way Messaging and Request Response Messaging</li>
     <li>WSDL Code Generation Tool.</li>
     <li>HTTP, SMTP, and TCP transport Support</li>
 </ul>
 This release also includes tools such as an administraion web application, and three Eclipse
 plug-ins: WSDL2WS, Service Archive Wizard, and Module Archive Wizard.</p>

 <p><b>24 February 2005 - Apache Axis2 Milestone 1 (M1) Released</b> <a href="releases.html#M1">(Download M1)</a><p>This first milestone release of Axis2 includes the following features:
 <ul>
     <li>AXIOM, a SOAP specific streaming XML infoset model for SOAP 1.1/1.2 Messages</li>
     <li>WSDL Object Model built based on the proposed WSDL 2.0 Component Model.</li>
     <li>Handler framework with the support to specify the location of the Handler in a
       specific Phase</li>
     <li>Support to bundle and enable the Handlers as Modules</li>
     <li>Support for the Synchronous and Asynchronous IN-OUT messaging over HTTP transport</li>
     <li>Hot deployment of Web Services</li>
 </ul>
	<title>Apache Axis2 - Next Generation Web Services</title>
	<h2>Welcome to Apache Axis2</h2>

	<p>
	Apache Axis2 is an implementation of the
	<a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/soap/">Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP)
	Recommendation</a> from the <a href="http://www.w3.org">W3C</a>. Axis2 can be used
	to provide and consume Web Services.
	</p>

	<p>From the <a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/soap/">W3C recommendation</a>:
	<div style="padding-left: 20px; padding-top: 5px; font-style:italic;">"SOAP is a lightweight protocol for exchange of information in a decentralized,
	distributed environment. It is an XML based protocol that consists of three parts:
	an envelope that defines a framework for describing what is in a message and how to
	process it, a set of encoding rules for expressing instances of application-defined
	datatypes, and a convention for representing remote procedure calls and responses."
	</div>
	</p>

	<p>
	Apache Axis2 is an effort to re-implement both Axis/Java and
	Axis/C++ on a new architecture. Building upon the "handler chain" model
	developed in Axis1, Axis2 introduces a more
	flexible pipeline architecture which lends itself to greater modularity
	and extensibility. This extensibility will allow Axis2 to act as a
	foundation for a growing constellation of associated Web Services protocols including:
	<ul>
	<li><a href="http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/tc_home.php?wg_abbrev=wsrm">WS-ReliableMessaging</a></li>
	<li><a href="http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/tc_home.php?wg_abbrev=wss">WS-Security</a></li>
	<li><a href="http://www.w3.org/Submission/ws-addressing/">WS-Addressing</a>
	</ul>
	</p>

	<h2>Latest Release</h2>

	<p><b>12 August 2005 - Apache Axis2 Version 0.91 Released!</b> <a href="releases.html">(Download 0.91)</a>
	<p>Axis2 is becoming more and more stable. <a href="releases.html">Download it!</a> This 0.91 release is a glimpse of 1.0
	that should be comming soon. This 0.91 release contains the following additional
	features:
	<ul>
	<li>File Caching for MTOM</li>
	<li>SOAP Faults based on the SOAP version and better fault handling </li>
	<li>Different character encoding support</li>
	<li>Improved infoset support in AXIOM</li>
	<li>Improved code generation templates</li>
	<li>Numerous bug fixes</li>
	</ul>
	We are getting closer to a 1.0 release, the remaining tasks to be completed
	before a 1.0 release include: SOAP 1.1 and 1.2 validation, JAX-RPC 1.1/2.0 compliance,
	Complete XML infoset support for AXIOM, implementation of JMS transport, and Web
	Service Policy support.</p>

	<h2>Axis2 Background and Motivation</h2>

	<p>
	Axis1 was built under the assumption that other protocols such as WS-ReliableMessaging
	would be integrated into Axis1's handler chain. Axis1 had the concept of a
	MessageContext and a chain of transport, service, and global message handlers, but
	Axis1 lacked a clear extension architecture to enable clean composition of
	such layers. One of the key motivations for Axis2 is to provide a clean and
	simple environment for implementations of associated WS standards such as
	<a href="http://ws.apache.org/sandesha/">Apache Sandesha</a> and
	<a href="http://ws.apache.org/wss4j/">Apache WSS4J</a>. Implementations of
	associated standards should be able to easily interface with the base
	SOAP Message handling system. In summary, Axis2 has a more modular and
	flexible message handling pipeline, it focuses on the details of message handling
	and provides clear hooks for implementations of associated Web Services
	standards and protocols. This evolution will allow Axis to be a foundational
	technology for next generation Web Services.
	</p>

	<p>
	Axis2 introduces a representation for SOAP messages called
	<b>AXIOM (AXIs Object Model)</b>. AXIOM consists of two parts: a complete XML Infoset
	representation and a SOAP Infoset representation. The XML Infoset
	representation provides a JDOM-esque API built atop a deferred model
	via a StAX-based (Streaming API for XML) pull parsing API. A key feature of AXIOM
	is that it allows one to stop building the XML tree and just access the pull stream
	directly; thus enabling both maximum flexibility and maximum performance. This
	approach allows Axis2 to support multiple levels of abstraction for consuming and
	offering Web services: using plain AXIOM, using generated code and statically
	data-bound data types and so on. Developers with demanding performance
	requirements will be able to use AXIOM to create highly scaleable Web Services.
	</p>

	<p>
	A third shift in Axis 2 is the de-emphasis of RPC-oriented Web
	Services and a shift towards more document-oriented, message style asynchronous
	service interactions. With Axis2, clients can interact with servers in a number of
	ways, and the client API provides both a blocking and non-blocking API. At the time of Axis1's design, RPC-style,
	synchronous, request-response interactions were the order of the day for Web
	services. Today service interactions are much more message-oriented and exploit
	many different message exchange patterns. The Axis2 engine architecture is careful
	to not build in any assumptions of request-response patterns to ensure that it can
	be used easily to support arbitrary message exchange patterns.
	Don't worry,you'll still be able to use Axis2 like you used Axis1, you'll just have a richer set
	of options for client-server interaction.
	</p>

	<h2>Archived News</h2>
	<p><b>02 July 2005 - Apache Axis2 Version 0.9 Released!</b> <a href="releases.html#0.9">(Download 0.9)</a></p>
	<p>Axis2 is taking shape. <a href="releases.html#0.9">Download it!</a> This 0.9 release is a glimpse of 1.0 that should be comming soon. This 0.9 release contains the following additional features:
	<ul>
	<li>XML Beans based data binding support</li>
	<li>Support for WS-Addressing, both the submission and final versions</li>
	<li>REST Web Service Support</li>
	<li>MTOM/SWA attachments support</li>
	<li>SAAJ implementation</li>
	</ul>
	<p><b>07 June 2005 - Apache Axis2 Milestone 2 (M2) Released</b> <a href="releases.html#M2">(Download M2)</a><p>Apache Axis2 is starting to take shape, features implemented in this
	second milestone release are:
	<ul>
	<li>Modules - a mechanism to extend the SOAP Processing Model</li>
	<li>Support for WS-Addressing</li>
	<li>Axis2 Client API - Blocking and Non-Blocking API</li>
	<li>Support for One-Way Messaging and Request Response Messaging</li>
	<li>WSDL Code Generation Tool.</li>
	<li>HTTP, SMTP, and TCP transport Support</li>
	</ul>
	This release also includes tools such as an administraion web application, and three Eclipse
	plug-ins: WSDL2WS, Service Archive Wizard, and Module Archive Wizard.</p>

	<p><b>24 February 2005 - Apache Axis2 Milestone 1 (M1) Released</b> <a href="releases.html#M1">(Download M1)</a><p>This first milestone release of Axis2 includes the following features:
	<ul>
	<li>AXIOM, a SOAP specific streaming XML infoset model for SOAP 1.1/1.2 Messages</li>
	<li>WSDL Object Model built based on the proposed WSDL 2.0 Component Model.</li>
	<li>Handler framework with the support to specify the location of the Handler in a
	specific Phase</li>
	<li>Support to bundle and enable the Handlers as Modules</li>
	<li>Support for the Synchronous and Asynchronous IN-OUT messaging over HTTP transport</li>
	<li>Hot deployment of Web Services</li>
	</ul>