SOAP is a simple XML-based protocol that enables applications to exchange information through HTTP.
Or simply put: SOAP is a communication protocol between Web Services based on XML. SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) is a platform-neutral and language-neutral lightweight communication protocol that enables programs to communicate through the standard Internet HTTP. To learn more about SOAP, please read our SOAP tutorial. In May 2000, SOAP 1.1 was recommended to the W3C (by developers: IBM, Lotus, Microsoft and Userland) in a record as a protocol for exchanging information in a distributed environment. The W3C SOAP 1.1 document is just a NOTE for discussion. The release of thisrecord does not represent any degree of W3C approval. The W3C XML Protocol working Group is currently working on SOAP 1.2 The first working draft was issued on December 17, 2001. SOAP 1.2 was released as a W3C recommendation on June 24, 2003. Standard Draft / proposal Recommended time SOAP 1.2 Primer Jun 2003 SOAP 1.2 Primer (2.Ed) Apr 2007 SOAP 1.2 Messaging Jun 2003 SOAP 1.2 Messaging (2.Ed) Apr 2007 SOAP 1.2 Adjuncts Jun 2003 SOAP 1.2 Adjuncts (2.Ed) Apr 2007 SOAP 1.2 Test Collection Jun 2003 SOAP 1.2 Test Collection (2.Ed) Apr 2007 SOAP 1.2 Attachments Jun 2004 SOAP 1.2 Email Bindings Jul 2002 SOAP 1.2 Normalization Oct 2003 SOAP 1.2 Serialization Jun 2004 Web Services Addressing 1.0-Core May 2006 Web Services Addressing 1.0-SOAP May 2006 4.13.1. SOAP ¶
4.13.2. SOAP 1.1 ¶
4.13.3. SOAP 1.2 ¶
4.13.4. W3C SOAP specification and timeline ¶