Only PHP Library for Creating Both SOAP and REST Services

WSO2, the open source SOA company, today announced the availability of the WSO2 Web Services Framework for PHP (WSF/PHP) 2.0. WSF/PHP is the industry's only PHP scripting language library that enables developers to create and consume both SOAP and REST Web services -- with the security and reliability required for an enterprise service-oriented architecture (SOA).

WSF/PHP 2.0 adds significantly expanded REST functionality, new Data Services, greater interoperability, and extended security. With WSF/PHP 2.0, developers now have a comprehensive framework for deploying PHP services that meet the strict enterprise SOA standards implemented by corporations and governments worldwide.

WSF/PHP 2.0 is part of the WSO2 family of Web Services Framework (WSF) products designed to support enterprises' heterogeneous SOAs. Other WSO2 WSF products include WSF/Ruby, WSF/Perl, WSF/Java, WSF/JavaScript, and WSF/Spring. With the WSF family, enterprises' diverse developer communities have the functionality they need to create Web services in their language of choice.

"WSO2 exists to enable heterogeneous SOAs, and WSF/PHP 2.0 is an important part of that mission. Through WSF/PHP 2.0, enterprises can tap an expansive community of PHP developers by giving them the first comprehensive framework for easily creating both SOAP and REST services," said Dr. Sanjiva Weerawarana, CEO of WSO2. "With our new Data Services and expanded interoperability, WSF/PHP 2.0 also provides a critical bridge between tens of thousands of PHP Web applications and the many enterprise data sources, applications and services driving today's enterprises."

WSF/PHP 2.0 Development, Interoperability and Security Enhancements

With full support for REST, SOAP, and WS-* specifications, WSF/PHP lets a single service be exposed both as a SOAP-style and as a REST-style service using a simple PHP-friendly programming model. WSF/PHP 1.0 provided a REST API along with support for SOAP 1.1 and 1.2, WSDL 1.1 and 2.0, and SOAP Message Transmission Optimization Mechanism (MTOM). WSF/PHP 2.0 adds a comprehensive REST framework featuring custom Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) mapping -- making it easy and intuitive to map a REST API into PHP when creating a Web service.

WSF/PHP 2.0 facilitates Web service creation for the large majority of PHP Web applications that rely on databases. The new WSF/PHP Data Services solution lets developers take data in LAMP(1), WAMP(2), and other PHP-based systems and expose it as a Web service with full WS-* support. Key features include a dbs2php converter tool, and support for multiple database engines, nested queries, and WSDL generation.

Extended interoperability in WSF/PHP 2.0 makes it easier for developers to seamlessly integrate PHP applications with those based on other enterprise platforms. WSF/PHP 2.0 offers much stronger support for the latest WS-* standards, as well as increased testing against Microsoft .NET, the WSO2 WSAS, Axis2/Java, and other J2EE implementations.

    WSF/PHP enterprise security and reliability includes the support
for WS-Security, WS-SecurityPolicy, and WS-ReliableMessaging available
with WSF/PHP 1.0. Version 2.0 of WSF/PHP adds capabilities in four
areas.

    --  Replay detection tracks whether a message is fresh or has been
        previously sent, preventing replay attacks that can lead to
        denial of service.

    --  WS-Trust for issuing, renewing, and validating security tokens
        ensures trusted relationships.

    --  WS-SecureConversation support allows a series of messages (a
        conversation) to be protected by a single session key,
        improving efficiency of the operation.

    --  Support for the Public Key Cryptography Standards (PKCS) makes
        it possible for services written in WSF/PHP to handle multiple
        client x509 certificates simultaneously, further improving
        efficiency.

Other development and performance enhancements in WSF/PHP 2.0 include:

    --  Increased WSDL support includes tools, such as wsdl2php for
        contract-first development of services and clients; the
        ability to generate WSDLs for WSF/PHP Web services scripts;
        and proven support for a range of WSDL styles, including
        support for advanced schemas such as extensions and
        restrictions.

    --  Policy-driven design provides users with a maximum level of
        control by allowing developers to configure the behavior of
        services using policies.

    --  Binary data capability gives users a choice between sending
        and receiving binary data as attachments using either MTOM or
        a SOAP message with attachment (SwA). MTOM in version 2.0 has
        been optimized through caching, enhancing performance.

    --  Expanded deployment models for WSF/PHP 2.0 include several
        platforms -- notably Linux, Windows, and Solaris -- as well as
        seamless integration with Apache and Microsoft Internet
        Information Services (IIS) Web servers.

    --  Enhanced stability to ensure high availability and
        reliability.

    Zend Core Support Featured at ZendCon

With version 2.0, WSF/PHP has been tested and proven to run with Zend Core, Zend's tested, certified and supported version of PHP, which has been widely adopted by enterprises for their production PHP environments. WSF/PHP 2.0 is being launched in conjunction with ZendCon 2008; the Zend/PHP conference runs September 15-18, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. WSO2 will demonstrate WSF/PHP 2.0 at the Microsoft ZendCon booth.

"Zend and WSO2 are mutually dedicated to serving the diverse needs of PHP developers with world-class open-source software for implementing Web services," said Andi Gutmans, CTO and co-founder at Zend Technologies. "By bringing support for both enterprise-oriented WS-* and REST Web services to our managed PHP production environment, WSO2 joins us in empowering the developers supporting more than 20 million PHP websites with unprecedented flexibility for delivering enterprise-class Web services."

WSF/PHP 2.0 Webinar

WSO2 will present a free webinar, "Introducing Enterprise Web Services with WSO2 WSF/PHP 2.0," which will review how to take advantage of the new REST functionality and WSF/PHP Data Services support. The webinar will run from 9:00-10:00 a.m. Pacific on Tuesday, September 23, 2008. Presenting the webinar will be Selvaratnam Uthaiyashankar, a WSO2 software architect and lead developer of the WSO2 Web Services Frameworks. For more information, visit: http://wso2.com/about/news/wsf-php-sep-08-webinar/.

Availability and Support

The WSO2 Web Services Framework for PHP 2.0 is available for download today. As a fully open source solution released under the Apache License 2.0, it does not carry any software licensing or subscription fees. WSO2 offers a range of service and support options for WSF/PHP 2.0. These include support subscriptions, training, consulting, custom development and development support. For information on service and support packages, visit http://wso2.com.

About WSO2

WSO2 is the open source SOA company founded by pioneers in Web services and the Apache Software Foundation Web services community. The company delivers the only tightly integrated, entirely open source middleware stack that is optimized for SOA. The WSO2 products address the core components of SOAs: service creation, connection, composition and governance. The company is backed by Intel Capital and maintains operations in the United States, United Kingdom and Sri Lanka. For more information, visit http://wso2.com.

(1)LAMP: open source Web platform consisting of Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP

(2)WAMP: Web server package containing Windows, Apache, MySQL, and PHP

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Source: WSO2