Encapsulation and polymorphism describe how objects are structured and used inside software. An API or SOAP service describes a boundary between components or systems. Mixing the two levels makes a design document harder to read.
Core words
The illustration separates object-oriented building blocks from interfaces and integration mechanisms between systems.
| English term | Meaning and use |
|---|---|
inheritance | A mechanism by which a derived class or type reuses and extends behavior or structure from a base type. |
object | A software entity with state and behavior, often an instance created from a class or prototype. |
class | A definition or template for objects, describing their data and behavior in class-based languages. |
encapsulation | Grouping state with operations and controlling access to implementation details through an interface. |
polymorphism | Using a common interface while different concrete types provide their own behavior. |
concrete class | A class that can be instantiated directly because its required behavior is implemented. |
Words to distinguish together
| English term | Meaning and use |
|---|---|
abstract class | A class intended as a base with behavior or contracts that subclasses complete; it is not directly instantiated. |
API | Application Programming Interface: the rules and forms by which software exposes functions or data to another component. |
EAI | Enterprise Application Integration: connecting enterprise applications so their data and processes can work together. |
WSDL | Web Services Description Language: an XML description of SOAP operations, messages, bindings, and endpoints. |
UDDI | Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration: a historical XML-based registry approach for publishing and discovering web services. |
SOAP | An XML-based messaging protocol commonly used with WSDL-described web services. |
Words encountered in code and operations
| English term | Meaning and use |
|---|---|
RPC | Remote Procedure Call: invoking a procedure on another process or machine through a communication mechanism. |
MOM | Message-Oriented Middleware: infrastructure that connects applications by exchanging messages, often asynchronously. |
TP-Monitor | Transaction-processing monitor: middleware coordinating and monitoring online transactional work. |
ORB | Object Request Broker: middleware that mediates calls between distributed objects. |
CORBA | Common Object Request Broker Architecture: a standard for distributed-object interoperability, mainly encountered in legacy systems. |
Jakarta Enterprise Beans (formerly EJB) | A Jakarta EE component model whose container provides services such as transactions and security; formerly called Enterprise JavaBeans. |
Reading these terms in context
A class can define behavior without being directly instantiable, while a concrete class can produce instances. An API defines a contract; SOAP, RPC, and messaging are possible mechanisms for communicating across a boundary. They do not replace the class model inside either application.
The application exposes an API; its SOAP contract uses WSDL, while its internal classes use encapsulation and polymorphism.
Key takeaways
Read inward from object, class, inheritance, and polymorphism to the outward contract, then to the transport or middleware. WSDL and UDDI have specific web-service roles; CORBA and classic EJB terminology may appear in legacy integration documents. Jakarta Enterprise Beans is the current name for the former EJB component model.
