We are moving towards a standards-based Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA), where IT infrastructure is continuously adapted to keep up with the pace of business change. Oracle is at the forefront of this vision, with the Oracle SOA Suite providing the most comprehensive, proven, and integrated tool kit for building SOA based applications.

Developers and Architects using the Oracle SOA Suite, whether working on integration projects, building composite applications, or specializing in implementations of Oracle Applications, need a hands-on guide on how best to harness and apply this technology.

This book will guide you on using and applying the Oracle SOA Suite to solve real-world problems, enabling you to quickly learn and master the technology and its applications.

The initial section of the book is aimed at providing you with a detailed hands-on tutorial to each of the core components that make up the Oracle SOA Suite; namely the Oracle Service Bus, BPEL Process Manager, Human Workflow, Business Rules, and Business Activity Monitoring. Once you are familiar with the various pieces of the SOA Suite and what they do, the next question will typically be: "What is the best way to combine / use all of these different components to implement a real-world SOA solution?"

Answering this question is the goal of the next section. Using a working example of an online auction site (oBay), it leads you through key SOA design considerations in implementing a robust solution that is designed for change. Though the examples in the book are based on Oracle SOA Suite 10.1.3.4 the book will still be extremely useful for anyone using 11g.

The final section addresses non-functional considerations and covers the packaging, deployment, and testing of SOA applications; it then details how to use Web Service Manager to secure and administer SOA applications.

What you will learn from this book?

• Learn to use key technology adapters to service-enable existing systems
• Build implementation-agnostic services using the Oracle Service Bus
• Assemble services to build composite services and long-running business process using BPEL
• Initiate and discover how business rules can be used to externalize "decision points" in a BPEL process
• Incorporate Human Workflow into your processes and use Business Rules to provide greater agility
• Design XML schemas and service contracts for improved agility, reuse, and interoperability
• Examine different approaches either from scratch or by re-using existing logic for building new business services
• Observe the protocols available in addition to SOAP over HTTP for invoking Web Services and the advantages they provide
• Create, deploy, and run test cases that automate the testing of composite applications
• Secure and administer SOA applications using Web Service Manager
• Architect, design, and implement your overall SOA Solution
• Design your Web Service contracts for interoperability and maintainability

Approach

This book is a comprehensive guide, split into three sections. The initial section of the book provides an introduction to the Oracle SOA Suite and its various components, and will give you a fast-paced hands-on introduction to each of the key components in turn. The next section illustrates the usage of the various components of the SOA Suite to implement a real-world SOA-based solution with the help of an example of an online auction site (oBay). The final section covers other considerations such as the packaging, deployment, testing, security, and administration of SOA applications.

Who this book is written for?

This book targets developers and technical architects who work in the SOA domain. The primary purpose of the book is to provide them with a "hands on" practical guide to using and applying the Oracle SOA Suite in the delivery of real-world composite applications.

It presumes basic understanding of the concepts of SOA, as well as some of the key standards in this space, including web services (SOAP, WSDL), XML Schemas, and XSLT (and XPath).

Antony Reynolds

Antony Reynolds has worked with Oracle BPEL from the days before Oracle acquired Collaxa in 2004 and with it the product now known as the Oracle BPEL Process Manager. Since then Antony has been a keen evangelist of the power of SOA and has worked with key European customers to help them realize the power of the Oracle SOA Suite within their own organizations.

Prior to joining Oracle, Antony was a system architect working on the Galileo Computerized Reservation System. The business-driven architecture skills Antony learned there have proven invaluable in helping him to see beyond initial flashy solutions and understand the issues that will come with implementing SOA solutions in a high-volume 24x7 environment.

With more than 20 years of IT experience Antony has always focused on secure, high-volume systems on the leading edge of the technology curve and is now a leading proponent of business-focused SOA at Oracle.

Matt Wright

Matt Wright has been involved with standards-based Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) since shortly after the initial submission of SOAP 1.1 to the W3C in 2000, and has worked with some of the early adopters of BPEL since its initial release in 2002. Since then, he has been a passionate exponent of SOA and has been engaged in some of the earliest SOA-based implementations across EMEA and APAC.

He is currently a Director of Product Management for Oracle Fusion Middleware in APAC, where he is responsible for working with organizations to educate and enable them in realizing the full business benefits of SOA in solving complex business problems. As a recognized authority on SOA, Matt is also responsible for evangelizing the Oracle SOA message and is a regular speaker and instructor at private and public events.Matt holds a B.Sc. (Eng) in Computer Science from Imperial College, University of London.