This post is in response to Sameer Tyagi's article on using JAX-WS for RESTful web services posted at the Sun Developer Network. I find a few points stated in this article troubling if not inaccurate - (a) it presents REST in a limited scope thereby showing SOAP in better light, and (b) it misses some key differences between REST and SOAP based web services. Beyond this, the example cited in this article just shows why you SHOULD NOT use JAX-WS for REST style web services. In this post, I would like to discuss the whys behind the two statements I just made.

Angle brackets or annotations? Is JAX-WS over-engineered or does it simplify web services development? I am disappointed with the points made by Richard Monson-Haefel and Jason Greene in their challenge and retractions against how complex or easy it is to use JAX-WS. Both their posts were provocative, but sidestep most of the requirements of complex web services. IMO, their positions are at the extreme ends.