Exploring web services

A web service is generally an XML-based program. Using this, we can exchange data over a network. A web service is nothing but an application component, which works on an open protocol, can be used by other applications, and is reusable.

Web services allow interaction between applications and use standardized XML. Simply put, it's a combination of XML and HTTP. The following components work for all web services:

• Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP)

• Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration (UDDI)

• Web Services Description Language (WSDL)

In this topic, we will demonstrate the use of web services and complex web services using Windows PowerShell.

Using web services

New-WebServiceProxy is a cmdlet that allows us to create a proxy object of any given valid web service.

For our example, we will use the following web service:

http://www.webservicex.net/CurrencyConvertor.asmx?WSDL

Run the following command:

$var = New-WebServiceProxy -Uri http://www.webservicex.net...