Why is the Web Loosely Coupled? A Multi-Faceted Metric for Service Design

TitleWhy is the Web Loosely Coupled? A Multi-Faceted Metric for Service Design
Publication TypeConference Paper
Year of Publication2009
AuthorsPautasso, C., and E. Wilde
Conference Name18th World Wide Web Conference (WWW2009)
Pages911-920
MonthApril
PublisherACM
Conference LocationMadrid, Spain
Keywordscoupling, REST, RESTful Web service interface
Abstract

Loose coupling is often quoted as a desirable property of systems architectures. One of the main goals of building systems using Web technologies is to achieve loose coupling. However, given the lack of a widely accepted definition of this term, it becomes hard to use coupling as a criterion to evaluate alternative Web technology choices, as all options may exhibit, and claim to provide, some kind of "loose" coupling effects. This paper presents a systematic study of the degree of coupling found in service-oriented systems based on a multi-faceted approach. Thanks to the metric introduced in this paper, coupling is no longer a one-dimensional concept with loose coupling found somewhere in between tight coupling and no coupling. The paper shows how the metric can be applied to real-world examples in order to support and improve the design process of service-oriented systems.

DOI10.1145/1526709.1526832
Citation Keyrestws:2009:www
Refereed DesignationRefereed