Analyzing Web Services Networks: a WS-NEXT Application

TL;DR

This paper introduces three models for analyzing Web services networks using complex network theory, enabling better discovery and composition of services through topological analysis.

Contribution

It proposes novel network models based on dependency, interaction, and similarity for Web services, and demonstrates their analysis using the WS-NEXT extractor.

Findings

Networks reveal key topological properties of Web services

Models facilitate improved service discovery and composition

Analysis supports better understanding of complex Web service interactions

Abstract

Web services represent a system with a huge number of units and many various and complex interactions. Complex networks as a tool for modelling and analyzing natural environments seem to be well adapted to such a complex system. To describe a set of Web services we propose three Web services network models based on the notions of dependency, interaction and similarity. Using the WS-NEXT extractor we instantiate the models with a collection of Web services descriptions. We take advantage of complex network properties to provide an analyzis of the Web services networks. Those networks and the knowledge of their toplogical properties can be exploited for the discovery and composition processes.