Syllabus

1. The Essence of Service-Oriented Architecture and Its Core Principles This topic covers the definition of Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA), its key characteristics, the motivation behind its development, and the evolution of information system architectures. Students will participate in a discussion comparing the benefits and drawbacks of SOA in real business environments, particularly in contrast with monolithic architectures. The output will be an essay or presentation on the application of SOA in a specific industry. 2. Basic Terminology and Principles of Service Design The topic introduces essential SOA terminology, including service, abstraction, reusability, statelessness, choreography, orchestration, open standards, and technological platforms. Students will create a concept map showing the interrelations between terms. The output will be a visual glossary with a diagram and explanatory notes. 3. Characteristics of Web Services and Message Exchange Mechanisms Students will learn about the characteristics of web services, message transmission mechanisms, active and passive intermediaries, and methods for implementing user interfaces in web services, including WS-GUI. A practical activity will involve simulating interaction between two web services via SOAP or REST. The output will be a communication flow diagram with a brief explanation. 4. Classification of Web Services and Their Role in Business Processes This session explores the classification of services—entity, processing, helper, and coordination—and their roles in enterprise process architecture. Students will match service types to stages within a chosen business process. The result will be a business process diagram with mapped service interactions. 5. Automation of Business Processes Using SOA Students will analyze how service models can automate specific business processes. Each student will select a process and design its automation using SOA principles, utilizing Draw.io. The output will be a visual service model diagram supporting the process flow. 6. Lifecycle of a Service-Oriented Information System This part covers the phases of developing an SOA system: analysis, design, implementation, testing, deployment, and maintenance. Students will link activities and deliverables to each phase. The output will be an infographic depicting the SOA lifecycle. 7. XML Language – Structure and Validation Students will study the structure of XML documents, the rules for creating well-formed XML documents, and validation procedures. They will create their own XML document with business data and validate it using online tools. The output will be a well-formed XML document suitable for application-level use. 8. XSD Language – Introduction and Built-in Data Types This topic introduces XML Schema Definition (XSD) and its role in SOA for validating XML structures. Students will create a basic XSD schema using built-in data types to validate their XML. The output will be a functional XSD file defining the required structure. 9. XSD – User-Defined Simple Types Students will learn how to define custom data types, apply restrictions (e.g., enumeration, patterns), and enforce value constraints. They will enhance their existing XSD with user-defined simple types. The output will be an extended schema enforcing business rules. 10. XSD – User-Defined Complex Types This session addresses complex and nested data structures in XSD. Students will model advanced business data structures and develop a corresponding XSD file. The result will be a hierarchical schema that supports reusable, nested elements. 11. WSDL Language – Service Description and Usage Students will explore the structure of Web Services Description Language (WSDL) and its use in defining services. Topics include abstract vs. concrete definitions, messages, operations, interfaces, bindings, and ports. Students will analyze an example WSDL and write a simple one of their own. The output will be a commented WSDL document. 12. UDDI Registries – Structure and Application This topic explains the purpose of Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration (UDDI) registries in SOA. Students will examine public vs. private registries and study real examples. The result will be a case study describing the publication and discovery of services via UDDI. 13. SOAP Protocol and Its Structure The final topic introduces the structure of SOAP messages—envelopes, headers, bodies, and fault handling. Students will construct a valid SOAP message using online tools and explain its components. The output will be a sample SOAP message with labeled parts and commentary.