SOA has multiple definitions that vary with the vendors that provide platforms to host SOA services. One of the commonly accepted SOA definitions was coined by Don Box of Microsoft. His definition is essentially a set of design guidelines which a service-oriented system should adhere to.
Boundaries are Explicit Services are Autonomous Services share Schema and Contract, not Class Compatibility is based upon Policy – Don Box, Microsoft
Although this definition was originally explained in relation to Microsoft Indigo (now WCF), the tenets still hold true for other SOA platforms as well. An understanding of this principle is that all the services should be available in the network. This tenet dictates that no modules, routines, or procedures can be considered as participants in SOA. Let's take a look at the original tenets in a little detail. The first tenet says that a service should implement a domain functionality and should...