Release 10.1A: OpenEdge Getting Started:
OpenEdge Reference Architecture

A service-oriented architecture

In addition to being a layered architecture, the OpenEdge RA is also a service-oriented architecture. The focus of a service-oriented architecture (SOA) is to implement business logic as a set of components that supply services. This approach not only implements the strategy to separate business logic from UI logic, it also implements the strategy to create components that can be interrelated and reused.

In particular, the Business Servicing Layer lends itself to an SOA approach because it requires components that are independent, but connectable. Components in the Business Servicing Layer run in their own containers, but must be able to communicate with components in other layers.

Following the SOA model, components expose their functionality as a service to components in other layers. The communication is accomplished via a Service Interface. The Service Interface is composed of a service requestor, a service provider, and a directory service that enables requestors to find providers.

For more information about SOA in the OpenEdge RA context, see Implementing the OpenEdge Reference Architecture: The Service Interface Layer at http://psdn.progress.com/library/docs/oera3_serviceinterface_wp.pdf.