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The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) forged ahead in the creation of Web services standards Tuesday with the release of the first Public Working Drafts of Web Services Description Language (define) 1.2 and WSDL 1.2 Bindings.

WSDL (define), developed jointly by Microsoft and IBM and then submitted to the W3C on a royalty-free basis, is an XML-formatted language used to describe a Web service's capabilities as collections of communication endpoints capable of exchanging messages. In turn, WSDL in an integral component of the XML-based UDDI (define) worldwide business registry standard. UDDI, XML (define) and SOAP (define), are the foundational standards upon which Web services (define) are built.

WSDL 1.2 Bindings describes how to use WSDL 1.2 with SOAP 1.2, HTTP (define) and MIME (define).

The W3C said WSDL 1.2's improvements over WSDL 1.1 include:

• Language clarifications
• Support for W3C Recommendations, including XML Schemas and XML Information Set
• A conceptual framework approach to define the description components
• The removal of unnecessary and non-interoperable features
• A better definition for the HTTP 1.1 binding.

The W3C said its Web Services Description Working Group will next focus on ensuring that WSDL interoperates smoothly with the XML and Semantic Web Activities. The working group is tracking its colleagues' work on the XML family of specifications, and is also working closely with the Resource Description Framework (RDF) Interest Group to map WSDL 1.2 to RDF (define), the language which allows for interoperability between applications that exchange machine-understandable information, as part of its Semantic Web Activity efforts. It is also coordinating with the Global Grid Forum and the Object Management Group.

Additionally, the group is forging ahead on Usage Scenarios and Requirements.

The WSDL 1.2 draft is available here, and the WSDL 1.2 Bindings draft is available here.