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# Why Use Web Services? * * * A few years ago, Web services were not fast enough to generate people's interest. * * * ## The Most Important Thing is Interoperability Since all major platforms can access the Web through a web browser, different platforms can interact with each other through it. To make these platforms work together, web applications were developed. Web applications are simple applications that run on the Web. They are built around web browser standards and can be used by almost any browser on any platform. * * * ## Web Services Take Web Applications to Another Level By using Web services, your application can publish functionality or messages to the entire world. Web services use XML to encode and decode data, and use SOAP to transfer data through open protocols. Through Web services, your accounting department's Win 2k server can connect with an IT vendor's UNIX server. * * * ## There are Two Types of Applications for Web Services ### Reusable Application Components There are some functionalities that different applications often need to use. So why develop them over and over again? Web services can provide application components as services, such as currency exchange rates, weather forecasts, or even language translation, etc. Ideally, there should be only one best version of each application component, so anyone can use it in their application. ### Connecting Existing Software By providing a way for different applications to link their data, Web services help solve the interoperability problem. By using Web services, you can exchange data between different applications and platforms.