Web Services and PHP

Web Services are based on open standards and provide ways of communication between computer applications written in different programming languages and imple-mented on different platforms. Web Services technologies provide cost effective and comparatively easy ways of integrating heterogeneous software components and im-proving communications between different systems. Web Services are a major step forward in the computing field and, as such, they need to be addressed in the computing curriculum. In teaching computing we have to emphasize principles, as well as demonstrate them through specific technologies. Teaching Web Services is an excellent way to give the students knowledge about leading technologies and at the same time demonstrate fundamental computing concepts. This paper gives an overview of the main Web Services standards and the latest PHP implementations developed in this respect. It also considers how the Web Services topics are embedded in the computing curriculum at the Department of Computing, Communication Tech-nology and Mathematics at London Metropolitan Univer-sity.