Java™ Web Services Unleashed

Endpoints

Endpoints define an ultimate destination for a message. Thus, endpoints are tied intimately to the messaging profile as well as to the provider. An endpoint could be a URI, or it could be very specialized address notation peculiar to a certain application, such as an industry-standard business identification number.

In true messaging applications, the endpoint is embedded within a message itself—as in the relationship between a letter and its address. A messaging provider can route internally addressed messages effectively between intermediates. This contributes greatly to loose coupling, because it implies that the sender and recipient never have to maintain a direct, end-to-end communications channel. Consider the enormous advantage ...