There are certain key concepts that must be well understood before being able to program with GT4. This chapter gives a brief overview of all those fundamental concepts.
OGSA, WSRF, and GT4: We'll take a look at what these oft-mentioned acronyms mean, and how they are related.
Web Services: OGSA, WSRF, and GT4 are based on standard Web Services technologies such as SOAP and WSDL. You don't need to be a Web Services expert to program with GT4, but you should be familiar with the Web Services architecture and languages. We provide a basic introduction and give you pointers to interesting sites about Web Services.
The Web Services Resource Framework: WSRF is the core of GT4. We take a look at what a Web Service Resource (or WS-Resource) is, and how it is related to Web Services.
The GT4 Architecture: After seeing both WS-Resources and Web Services, we take a look at the whole GT4 architecture, and how WSRF fits in it.
Java & XML: Finally, if you want to use GT4, you need to be able to program in Java, and to understand basic XML. If you're new to Java and XML, we provide a couple links that can help you get started.