What is a Web Service? And why is it called a Web Service?

Web services are a simple way of how applications can use the Web. They are a way to use Web technologies for providing an Application Programming Interface (API). That's different from what a Web page is for, which is a User Interface (UI) that is intended to be used by a human user. Web services open a whole new world of opportunities because now any application can take advantage of Web technologies, and not just Web browsers.

This video explains how the Web is based on the foundation of the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and why this matters for Web services and Web pages. Web pages use HTTP to retrieve Web pages using the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) which is then displayed in the browser. Web services use HTTP to exchange raw data with the JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) being the most popular data format.

00:00 Intro

00:16 What is the Web? What is the Internet?

00:55 The Web in a Nutshell

01:18 Difference between Web Page and Web Service

02:12 How do Web Pages and Web Services Work?

03:35 Examples for Web Services

04:47 A Short History of Web Services

05:51 Summary