Web Services: A Java Developer's Guide Using e-Speak (2001)

From the Book:
PREFACE
Disruptive technologies are chasms in the way the world works. Internet andintranet-based service economies are a fundamentally different way of exposinga company's assets to its consumers and partners. A company's assets are alsoexpanded to include more than the physical finished goods inventory. In this newworld, a company's business process is also an asset and thereby a revenue-generatingvehicle.

The problem with disruptive technologies is the lack of solution-focused informationthat the victims of such chaos can hold onto and learn how to ride the wave with.The idea for this book was really a realization that the paradigm of Internet- andintranet-based services truly was a disruptive idea at the intersection of businessand high tech.
The Spark
For Naresh, the spark for the book came while working with a group of developersand IT managers on a Hewlett-Packard Company (HP) project; Naresh saw a gaping hole between a representative set of expected users and the e-Speak technology. He discovered that the technical documentation providing in-depth information at the application programming interface (API) level or design level was not doing justice to business managers or even developers. They needed to be acclimated and welcomed into the world of Internet and intranet service-based economies as well as supported in the process of designing, developing, and deploying e-Speak based e-services and web services.

The spark usually begins as a vague, somewhat ethereal reality in the artist's mind.It's only the artist who can conceptualize the spark's existence. For Naresh, a tabla (Indian drums) artist himself, the book was justthata spark of what couldbe. As he mustered support for this spark, it started to take shape. We'll explainthe concepts in an onion fashion, he said. The spark now had form, shape, and size as he and Toral worked on its proposal. To Naresh, being a part of and watching the spark leave his mind to appear as words on paper was a very fulfilling experience. The ability to connect with people all over the world (literally from Stamford, Connecticut to Pune, India) rallying around the spark will be remembered.
Moonlighting
For Toral, helping Naresh materialize the spark was a stimulating and very rewarding experience. A program manager by profession, she generally dealt with software from the outsidemanaging its lifecycle. Writing this book gave her a view from the inside; it gave her a chance to see the inner workings of software and, in the end, she could confidently say she knew what made e-Speak tick.

Jumping into the world of interface definitions and mailboxes was not the only highlight of writing this book for Toral. Also a freelance writer, she was used to having a creative license but she quickly learned how to funnel that creativity within the confines of technology offering. Her ability to harness the strong support of many others by relentlessly selling the spark was a pleasant and very memorable experience, as well. 

We hope this book provides you the tool you need to fit e-service and web service technologies in your road maps since it is expected to be the next Chapter of the Internet.