Service-oriented architecture
architectural pattern in software design
In software engineering, service-oriented architecture (SOA) is an architectural style that focuses on discrete services instead of a monolithic design. SOA is a good choice for system integration. By consequence, it is also applied in the field of software design where services are provided to the other components by application components, through a communication protocol over a network. A service is a discrete unit of functionality that can be accessed remotely and acted upon and updated independently, such as retrieving a credit card statement online. SOA is also intended to be independent of vendors, products and technologies.
Service orientation is a way of thinking in terms of services and service-based development and the outcomes of services.
A service has four properties according to one of many definitions of SOA:
It logically represents a repeatable business activity with a specified outcome.
It is self-contained.
It is a black box for its consumers, meaning the consumer does not have to be aware of the service's inner workings.
It may be composed of other services.
The public source identifies “Service-oriented architecture” as architectural pattern in software design. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Service-oriented, architecture and architectural.
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Stable identifiers, scientific names and standards terminology offer the best bridge between this overview and specialist evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 7, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q220644. The Library of Congress control number is sh2008008368. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
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This entry incorporates text from “Service-oriented architecture” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.