About the Book
An Architects and Developers Guide to BPEL and BPEL4WS
Key Features
Architecture, syntax, development and composition of Business Processes and Services using BPEL
Advanced BPEL features such as compensation, concurrency, links, scopes, events, dynamic partner links, and correlations
Oracle BPEL Process Manager and BPEL Designer Microsoft BizTalk Server as a BPEL server
Book DescriptionWeb services provide the basic technical platform required for application interoperability. They do not, however, provide higher level control, such as which web services need to be invoked, which operations should be called and in what sequence. Nor do they provide ways to describe the semantics of interfaces, the workflows, or e-business processes. BPEL is the missing link to assemble and integrate web services into a real business process BPEL4WS standardizes process automation between web services. This applies both within the enterprise, where BPEL4WS is used to integrate previously isolated systems, and between enterprises, where BPEL4WS enables easier and more effective integration with business partners. In providing a standard descriptive structure BPEL4WS enables enterprises to define their business processes during the design phase. Wider business benefits can flow from this through business process optimization, reengineering, and the selection of most appropriate processes . Supported by major vendorsó including BEA, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Microsoft, Novell, Oracle, SAP, Sun, and othersó BPEL4WS is becoming the accepted standard for business process management.
This book provides detailed coverage of BPEL4WS, its syntax, and where, and how, it is used. It begins with an overview of web services, showing both the foundation of, and need for, BPEL. The web services orchestration stack is explained, including standards such as WS-Security, WS-Coordination, WS-Transaction, WS-Addressing, and others. The BPEL language itself is explained in detail, with Code snippets and complete examples illustrating both its syntax and typical construction. Having covered BPEL itself, the book then goes on to show BPEL is used in context. by providing an overview of major BPEL4WS servers. It covers the Oracle BPEL Process Manager and Microsoft BizTalk Server 2004 in detail, and shows how to write BPEL4WS solutions using these servers.What you will learn
Chapter 1 provides a detailed introduction to BPEL and Service Oriented Architecture (SOA). It discusses business processes and their automation, explains the role of BPEL, web services, and Enterprise Service Buses (ESB) in SOA, provides insight into business process composition with BPEL, explains the most important features, compares BPEL to other specifications, provides an overview of BPEL servers, and discusses the future of BPEL.
Chapter 2 provides a detailed introduction to the Web Services Technology Stack. It discusses the important standards and specifications for using BPEL and implementing SOA with web services, such as WS-Security, WS-Addressing, WS-Coordination, WS-AtomicTransaction, WS-BusinessActivity, WS-Reliable Messaging, etc.
Chapter 3 discusses the composition of web services with BPEL. The chapter introduces the core concepts of BPEL and explains how to define synchronous and asynchronous business processes with BPEL. The reader gets familiar with BPEL process structure, partner links, sequential and parallel service invocation, variables, conditions, etc.
Chapter 4 goes deeper into the BPEL specification and covers advanced features for modeling complex business processes. Advanced activities, scopes, serialization, fault handing, compensations, event handling, correlation sets, concurrent activities and links, process lifecycle, and dynamic partner links are covered in detail.
Chapter 5 explains how to use the Oracle BPEL Process Manager for deploying and executing business processes defined in BPEL. It describes the server architecture, tools, features, and common approaches for managing and debugging BPEL processes. The chapter also looks at graphical development of BPEL processes using Oracle BPEL Designer for JDeveloper and for Eclipse.
Chapter 6 takes a detailed look at the advanced features of the Oracle BPEL Process Manager including extension functions, dynamic parallel flows, Web Services Invocation Framework, Java embedding, Notification service, Workflow service, Identity service, and Oracle BPEL Server APIs.
Chapter 7 discusses MS BizTalk Server 2004 and its support for BPEL. It explains how to develop business processes in BizTalk and export them to BPEL. It also explains how to import BPEL processes into BizTalk and how to use the Orchestration Designer tool to define processes graphically, and compares BizTalk and BPEL constructs.
Appendix A provides a syntax reference for BPEL version 1.1. The appendix covers standard BPEL activities and elements, functions, attributes, and faults.
Who this book is forThis book is aimed at architects and developers in the design, implementation, and integration phases of advanced information systems and e-business solutions, developing business processes and dealing with the issues of composition, orchestration, transactions, coordination, and security. The book presumes knowledge of XML and web services, web services development (either on J2EE or .NET), and multi-tier architecture
Table of Contents:
Table of Contents
About the Author :
Matjaz B. Juric holds a PhD in computer and information science. He is a full-time professor at the University of Ljubljana and heads the Cloud Computing and SOA Competence Centre (http://www.soa.si). Matjaz is an Oracle ACE Director and has been designated Java Champion and IBM Champion. He has more than 20 years of work experience. He has authored and coauthored Do More with SOA Integration: Best of Packt, WS-BPEL 2.0 for SOA Composite Applications with IBM WebSphere 7, Oracle Fusion Middleware Patterns, Business Process Driven SOA using BPMN and BPEL, Business Process Execution Language for Web Services (both English and French editions), BPEL Cookbook (which was awarded the best SOA book in 2007 by SOA World Journal), SOA Approach to Integration, Professional J2EE EAI, Professional EJB, J2EE Design Patterns Applied, and Visual Basic .NET Serialization Handbook. He has published chapters in More Java Gems, Cambridge University Press, and in Technology Supporting Business Solutions, Nova Science Publishers, Inc. His work has also been published in several journals and magazines and presented at conferences. Benny Mathew is a Solution Architect at Two Connect Inc. He did his Masters in Computer Applications from University of Mysore, India. His fascination for computers started at the age of 14, when he experienced the joy of programming for the first time on a Sinclair ZX Spectrum+. He has co-authored several books and articles on .NET and BizTalk 2004/2006 for leading book publishers and developer portals such as Wrox Press, Apress, Packt Publishing, DevX, ASPToday, CSharpToday and DeveloperFusion. During his free time, Benny likes to read/write blogs and help people on the newsgroups related to BizTalk. He was awarded Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) for two consecutive years. Before joining Two Connect, he was with companies like IBM, Hewlett Packard, Thomson Financials and Delphi Software. you can reach him at benny(at)mvps(dot)org. Poornachandra Sarang, Ph.D., is CEO of ABCOM Information Systems. He has been a Visiting Professor of Computer Engineering at the University of Notre Dame, USA and is currently a visiting professor for Post-Graduate Computer Science courses at the University of Mumbai. Dr. Sarang provides consulting services to worldwide clients in architecting and designing IT solutions based on Java, CORBA, and Microsoft platforms. A well known and a highly sought-after trainer, Dr. Sarang has conducted several training programs on the latest technologies for several top-notch IT companies. He conducts lectures/seminars on emerging technologies across the world and has made several presentations at international conferences. He has authored/co-authored several books on Java, C++, J2EE, e-Commerce, and .NET.
