Web Service Description Language (WSDL)

Web Service Description Language (WSDL) is a language to describe SOAP Web Service. A WSDL defines a number of things:

• A list of types (see XSD) that describe the XML Elements that can be used.
• A list of interfaces that describe:
  • The XML Element that should be used for a Fault
  • The Operations that that interface implements, where each Operation has a:
    • input, which references the XML Element that is used for sending messages to the service for that operation,
    • output, which references the XML Element that is used for when the service responds
• A list of bindings, which describes another layer of abstraction over Operations, and what Interface implements it. (This is where things are getting vague).
• A service that has multiple endpoints, that link to a specific binding.

​​ Sources

• https://www.w3.org/TR/2007/REC-wsdl20-20070626/ Open external link