Interaction of Device-Independent User Interfaces with Web Services

The Web has evolved from a set of mere static pages to a means for offering applications through dynamic Web sites. Web services extend this paradigm by providing application logic via standardized Internet technology. A Web service consists essentially of an interface for accessing black-box functionality over the Internet. A Web service can be used by end users as well as by other applications or Web services. If an adequate set of Web services will be available, it should be possible to create Web-based applications by composing the appropriate Web services, no matter where they are located or how they are protected. Another trend has to be considered to cope with the requirements of Web applications in the future: a variety of devices with different display and processing resources will offer access to the Web, ranging from cell phones to various handheld devices. Thus, we see an urgent need to support these different devices no matter which Web services underlie a particular application. The paper presents the Multiple-User-Interfaces-Single Application logic (MUSA) architecture and system as an attempt to address this issue.