I am trying to find a rational explanation for SOAP inability to
handle opaque data efficiently. Is it accurate to say that SOAP (and
XML) cannot handle opaque data because their designers assume that
every data format in the world will eventually become XML-based?
Images will no longer use JPEG but SVG, movies will not use MPEG but
SMILE, and so on? Is that the assumption?
If it is not the assumption, I do not understand how rational people
can develop a protocol for data exchange that does not support binary
data natively/well -- you either phase binary data out or you support
it from the start. Am I missing something?
I am happy that we seem to reach an agreement regarding SOAP and OCP,
but I am surprised that SOAP is not good enough, given its definition:
SOAP is a lightweight protocol intended for exchanging
structured information in a decentralized, distributed
environment.
Without the "structured" requirement (which has to be interpreted in
W3C context or it would make little sense), this is exactly what we
need for OCP! When designing OCP, are we, in fact, trying to develop a
better SOAP?
Alex.