Web services training

Lesson 1 • Types of Web Services

Contrasts SOAP-based and REST-based services and introduces newer styles. Prepares learners to choose the right service type.

Lesson 2 • Web Service Architecture Overview

Introduces the layered architecture underlying web services. Connects protocol, data, and transport layers to practical design.

Lesson 3 • What Are Web Services

Defines web services and their role in distributed computing. Establishes vocabulary used throughout the course.

Lesson 4 • HTTP Protocol Essentials

Covers HTTP methods, status codes, and headers as the backbone of web service communication. Directly supports REST and SOAP implementation chapters.

Lesson 1 • REST Architectural Constraints

Explains the six REST constraints and their design implications. Grounds all subsequent API design decisions in formal principles.

Lesson 2 • Resource Modeling and URIs

Teaches how to identify resources and express them as clean URIs. Directly shapes the structure of every API endpoint designed later.

Lesson 3 • Response Design and Status Codes

Covers response body structure, appropriate status codes, and error payloads. Produces APIs that communicate clearly with consuming clients.

Lesson 4 • API Versioning Strategies

Presents URI, header, and media-type versioning approaches. Enables backward-compatible API evolution without breaking existing consumers.

Lesson 1 • WS-* Standards Overview

Surveys WS-Security, WS-ReliableMessaging, and WS-Addressing. Prepares learners to apply enterprise messaging standards in complex integrations.

Lesson 2 • WSDL Contract Design

Explains WSDL document structure and how it describes service operations. Enables contract-first service development and client code generation.

Lesson 3 • SOAP Binding and Transport

Covers HTTP and JMS transport bindings for SOAP. Connects message design to real network delivery mechanisms.

Lesson 4 • Building and Testing SOAP Services

Guides hands-on creation and validation of a SOAP service. Reinforces all SOAP concepts through practical implementation and tooling.

Lesson 1 • Documenting Async APIs with AsyncAPI

Extends documentation skills to event-driven and message-based services. Complements REST documentation with async communication patterns.

Lesson 2 • Publishing and Maintaining API Docs

Covers tooling for rendering, hosting, and versioning API documentation. Produces living documentation that stays accurate as APIs evolve.

Lesson 3 • Contract-First Development Workflow

Demonstrates designing the API contract before writing implementation code. Aligns teams on interface expectations before development begins.

Lesson 4 • Schema Design with JSON Schema

Teaches JSON Schema syntax for defining data models within API contracts. Ensures precise, validated data structures across all endpoints.

Lesson 1 • Authentication vs. Authorization Concepts

Clarifies the distinction between identity verification and access control. Provides the conceptual framework for all security implementations in this chapter.

Lesson 2 • API Keys and Basic Authentication

Covers simple credential-passing mechanisms and their appropriate use cases. Establishes a baseline before introducing token-based approaches.

Lesson 3 • OpenID Connect and Identity Providers

Extends OAuth 2.0 with identity layer concepts and ID tokens. Prepares learners to integrate third-party identity providers into services.

Lesson 4 • JSON Web Tokens

Teaches JWT structure, signing algorithms, and validation. Provides the token format used in most modern API authentication systems.

Lesson 1 • Input Validation and Injection Prevention

Addresses injection attacks, schema validation, and sanitisation strategies. Prevents the most common API vulnerability class from reaching service logic.

Lesson 2 • Transport Layer Security

Covers TLS configuration, certificate management, and HTTPS enforcement. Protects data in transit for all web service communications.

Lesson 3 • Rate Limiting and Throttling

Implements request quotas and throttling policies to prevent abuse. Maintains service availability under high or malicious traffic loads.

Lesson 4 • Security Testing for APIs

Introduces fuzzing, penetration testing, and automated scanning for APIs. Validates that security controls implemented earlier are effective.

Lesson 1 • Measuring API Performance

Establishes latency, throughput, and error rate as key performance metrics. Creates a measurement baseline before applying optimisations.

Lesson 2 • Asynchronous Processing Patterns

Teaches request queuing, callbacks, and webhooks for long-running operations. Decouples processing from response time to improve perceived performance.

Lesson 3 • HTTP Caching Strategies

Covers Cache-Control headers, ETags, and conditional requests. Reduces server load and improves response times for cacheable resources.

Lesson 4 • Server-Side Caching Layers

Introduces in-memory caches and distributed cache stores for service responses. Extends caching beyond HTTP to application and data layers.

Lesson 1 • Microservices Communication Patterns

Contrasts synchronous REST calls with asynchronous messaging between services. Guides architectural decisions for inter-service communication.

Lesson 2 • Resilience and Fault Tolerance

Applies circuit breakers, retries, and bulkheads to prevent cascade failures. Builds services that degrade gracefully under partial system failure.

Lesson 3 • Event-Driven Architecture Basics

Introduces events, event brokers, and publish-subscribe topology. Enables loosely coupled integration across distributed service boundaries.

Lesson 4 • Observability for Distributed Services

Covers distributed tracing, structured logging, and metrics aggregation. Provides the visibility needed to operate and debug complex service graphs.