SOA Glossary - service operation

Service Oriented Architecture SOA Glossary - service operation

When a service is implemented as a Web service, the functions or capabilities it exposes via a Web service contract are referred to as operations. Although it existed prior to the advent of Web services, this term is most associated with Web service contracts due to the inclusion of the operation element in the Web Services Description Language.

A Web service can be designed in accordance with service-orientation or other design paradigms. This means that a Web service may or may not be service-oriented. The term service operation is therefore used to indicate that the operation is part of an actual service (a Web service to which service-orientation has been applied).

Source: SOA Terms, Service Oriented Architecture SOA Glossary, Service Operation information at soaglossary.com