ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on Web services and Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP). Strictly defined, Web services are nothing more than an application programming interface. A Web server is a server application listening on a certain port for connections coming from a client application. The client application typically is the familiar Web browser. In some senses, LDAP is similar to Hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP). A common gateway interface (CGI) application is a good client-server implementation to access a directory. The client is the Web browser, and the server is the HTTP server. Using Users favorite programming language, write a number of CGI scripts that access the directory on behalf of the end user. The gateway can consist of a Web server and an application, but it could also be a servlet container such as Tomcat or an application server speaking the HTTP protocol.
