Java Web Services are everywhere and you will be quizzed on this very topic.

Java Web Services interview Questions & Answers Links:

Q1. What are the different styles of Web Services used for application integration? and What
are the differences between both SOAP WS and RESTful WS?
A1. SOAP WS and RESTful Web Service. Web services are very popular and widely used to
integrate similar (i.e. Java applications) and disparate systems (i.e. legacy applications and
applications written in .Net etc) as they are language neutral.

Java Web Service styles comparison

SOAP Web service RESTful Web service
Transport is platform & protocol neutral.
Transport is protocol specific. Supports only
Supports multiple protocols like HTTP(S),
HTTP or HTTPS protocols.
Messaging, TCP, UDP, SMTP, etc.
SOAP uses its own protocol and focuses on
REST is about exposing a public API over the
exposing pieces of application logic (not data)
internet to handle CRUD (Create, Read,
as services. SOAP exposes operations. SOAP is
Update, and Delete) operations on data. REST
focused on accessing named operations, which
is focused on accessing named resources
implement some business logic through
through a single consistent interface.
different interfaces.
REST permits many different data formats like
XML, JSON data, text, HTML, atom, RSS,
SOAP only permits XML data formats.
etc. JSON is less verbose than XML and is a
better fit for data and parses much faster.
SOAP based reads cannot be cached. The
REST based reads can be cached. Performs
application that uses SOAP needs to provide
and scales better.
caching.
Supports both SSL security and WS-security,
which adds some enterprise security features.
Supports identity through intermediaries, not
just point to point SSL.
WS-Security maintains its encryption right up
Supports only point-to-point SSL security.
to the point where the request is being
The basic mechanism behind SSL is that the
processed.
client encrypts all of the requests based on a
WS-Security allows you to secure parts (e.g.
key retrieved from a third party. When the
only credit card details) of the message that
request is received at the destination, it is
needs to be secured. Given that
decrypted and presented to the service. This
encryption/decryption is not a cheap operation,
means the request is only encrypted while it is
this can be a performance boost for larger
traveling between the client and the server.
messages.
Once it hits the server (or a proxy which has a
It is also possible with WS-Security to secure
valid certificate), it is decrypted from that
different parts of the message using different
moment on.
keys or encryption algorithms. This allows
The SSL encrypts the whole message, whether
separate parts of the message to be read by
all of it is sensitive or not.
different people without exposing other,
unneeded information.
SSL security can only be used with HTTP.
WS-Security can be used with other protocols
like UDP, SMTP, etc.
Has comprehensive support for
REST supports transactions, but it is neither
both ACIDbased transaction management for
ACID compliant nor can provide two phase
short-lived transactions
commit across distributed transactional
and compensation based transaction
resources as it is limited by its HTTP protocol.
management for long-running transactions. It
also supports two-phase commit across
distributed resources.
REST does not have a standard messaging
SOAP has success or retry logic built in and
system, and expects clients invoking the
provides end-to-end reliability even through
service to deal with communication failures by
SOAP intermediaries.
retrying.

Which one to favor? In general, a REST based web service is preferred due to its simplicity,
performance, scalability, and support for multiple data formats. SOAP is favored where service
requires comprehensive support for security and transactional reliability.

Q2. Differentiate between SOA (Service Oriented Architecture) versus WOA (Web Oriented
Architecture)?
A2. WOA extends SOA to be a light-weight architecture using technologies such as REST
and POX (Plain Old XML). POX compliments REST. JSON is a variant for data returned by
REST Web Services. It consumes less bandwidth and is easily handled by web developers
mastering the Javascript language

WOA – RESTFul Service Calls via AJAX to populate different sections of a UI

SOA and WOA differ in terms of the layers of abstraction. SOA is a system-level architectural
style that tries to expose business capabilities so that they can be consumed by many
applications. WOA is an interface-level architectural style that focuses on the means by which
these service capabilities are exposed to consumers. You can start out with a WOA and then
grow into SOA.
SOA (Service Oriented Architecture)

Q3. How would you decide what style of Web Service to use? SOAP WS or REST?
A3. In general, a REST based Web service is preferred due to its simplicity, performance,
scalability, and support for multiple data formats. SOAP is favored where service requires
comprehensive support for security and transactional reliability.

The answer really depends on the functional and non-functional requirements. Asking the
questions listed below will help you choose.

1) Does the service expose data or business logic? (REST is a better choice for exposing data,
SOAP WS might be a better choice for logic).
2) Do consumers and the service providers require a formal contract? (SOAP has a formal
contract via WSDL)
3) Do we need to support multiple data formats?
4) Do we need to make AJAX calls? (REST can use the XMLHttpRequest)
5) Is the call synchronous or asynchronous?
6) Is the call stateful or stateless? (REST is suited for statless CRUD operations)
7) What level of security is required? (SOAP WS has better support for security)
8) What level of transaction support is required? (SOAP WS has better support for transaction
management)
9) Do we have limited band width? (SOAP is more verbose)
10) What’s best for the developers who will build clients for the service? (REST is easier to
implement, test, and maintain)
Q4. What tools do you use to test your Web Services?
A4. SoapUI tool for SOAP WS and the Firefox “poster” plugin for RESTFul services.
Q5. What is the difference between SOA and a Web service?
A5. SOA is a software design principle and an architectural pattern for implementing loosely
coupled, reusable and coarse grained services. You can implement SOA using any protocols
such as HTTP, HTTPS, JMS, SMTP, RMI, IIOP (i.e. EJB uses IIOP), RPC etc. Messages can be
in XML or Data Transfer Objects (DTOs).

Web service is an implementation technology and one of the ways to implement SOA. You can
build SOA based applications without using Web services – for example by using other
traditional technologies like Java RMI, EJB, JMS based messaging, etc. But what Web services
offer is the standards based and platform-independent service via HTTP, XML, SOAP, WSDL
and UDDI, thus allowing interoperability between heterogeneous technologies such as J2EE and
.NET.

Q6. Why not favor traditional style middle-ware such as RPC, CORBA, RMI and DCOM as
opposed to Web services?
A6. The traditional middle-wares tightly couple connections to the applications. Tightly
coupled applications are hard to maintain and less reusable. Generally do not support
heterogeneity. Do not work across Internet and can be more expensive and hard to use.

Web Services support loosely coupled connections. The interface of the Web service provides
a layer of abstraction between the client and the server. The loosely coupled applications reduce
the cost of maintenance and increases re-usability. Web Services present a new form of middle-
ware based on XML and Web. Web services are language and platform independent. You can
develop a Web service using any language and deploy it on to any platform, from small device to
the largest supercomputer. Web service uses language neutral protocols such as HTTP and
communicates between disparate applications by passing XML or JSON messages to each other
via a Web API. Do work across internet, less expensive and easier to use.

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