WSDL - Definition

The Web Services Description Language (WSDL) is an XML format published for describing Web services. Version V 1.1 has not been endorsed by the World Wide Web Consortium, however it is now working on a new version 2.0, that will be a recommendation (an official standard), and thus endorsed by the W3C.

It is commonly abbreviated as WSDL in technical literature and often pronounced "Whuz-Duhl".

WSDL describes the public interface to the web service. This is an XML-based service description on how to communicate using the web service; namely the protocol bindings and message formats required to interact with the web services listed in its directory. The supported operations and messages are described abstractly, and then bound to a concrete network protocol and message format.

See also

• Web Service
• SOAP
• WSIF
• UDDI
• WS-I Basic Profile

External links

• WSDL 1.1 Specification (http://www.w3.org/TR/wsdl)
• Web Services Description Working Group (http://www.w3.org/2002/ws/desc/)
• XML protocol activity (http://www.w3.org/2000/xp/)
• Online WSDL Validator (http://www.mgateway.com/wsdlClient.htm)
• Another Online WSDL Validator (http://apps.gotdotnet.com/xws/wsdlverifier/wsdlverify.asmx?WSDL)