Le W3C vient de publier deux drafts de documents sur les services web : un document d'architecture (à lire) et un glossaire.
Voici la définition que donne le W3C pour les services web : "A Web service is a software system identified by a URI [RFC 2396], whose public interfaces and bindings are defined and described using XML. Its definition can be discovered by other software systems. These systems may then interact with the Web service in a manner prescribed by its definition, using XML based messages conveyed by Internet protocols. "


Web Services Architecture (Anglais)
Web Services Glossary (Anglais)