Some of the advantages of web services are:
- Interoperability: Web services are accessible over network and runs on HTTP/SOAP protocol and uses XML/JSON to transport data, hence it can be developed in any programming language. Web service can be written in java programming and client can be PHP and vice versa.
- Reusability: One web service can be used by many client applications at the same time.
- Loose Coupling: Web services client code is totally independent with server code, so we have achieved loose coupling in our application.
- Easy to deploy and integrate, just like web applications.
- Multiple service versions can be running at same time.