Service-oriented computing (SOC) is the new emerging paradigm for distributed computing, especially in the area of e-business and e-work processing, that has evolved from object-oriented and component-based computing to enable the building of scalable and agile networks of collaborating business applications distributed within and across organizational boundaries; services will count for customers and not the specific software or hardware component that is used to implement the services. In this context, services become the next level of abstraction in the process of creating systems that would enable automation of e-businesses and e-works.
From Object-oriented Programming to Service-oriented Computing - How to Improve Interoperability by Preserving Subtyping
