What is WSDL and Its Benefits

WSDL is an XML document used to describe web services and WSDL stands for Web Services Description Language.

A WSDL document defines services as collections of network endpoints, or ports. In WSDL, the abstract definition of endpoints and messages is separated from their concrete network deployment or data format bindings. This allows the reuse of abstract definitions: messages, which are abstract descriptions of the data being exchanged, and port types which are abstract collections of operations. The concrete protocol and data format specifications for a particular port type constitutes a reusable binding.

• Types– a container for data type definitions using some type system (such as XSD).
• Message– an abstract, typed definition of the data being communicated.
• Operation– an abstract description of an action supported by the service.
• Port Type–an abstract set of operations supported by one or more endpoints.
• Binding– a concrete protocol and data format specification for a particular port type.
• Port– a single endpoint defined as a combination of a binding and a network address.
• Service– a collection of related endpoints.

The primary benefit of the WebService behavior is that it provides a simple way for you to call methods that are exposed by Web Services using the SOAP protocol. The WebService behavior enables you to call a remote method using a few, straightforward, client-side scripting methods exposed by the behavior. Navigating to another URL is unnecessary when using the WebService behavior to deliver data to a page because DHTML is used to update the page's content. This approach enhances the browsing experience significantly, compared to traditional browsing approaches that require a full page refresh.