At the time, the point was simple, non-binary RPC calls. I'm pretty sure that the spec came from a hacked up client and server, then frozen, with all warts inta

At the time, the point was simple, non-binary RPC calls. I'm pretty sure that the spec came from a hacked up client and server, then frozen, with all warts intact. I'd be surprised if the initial (and final) spec had more than a handful of weeks of actual work in it. At the time, it did mostly work, and it did enable an explosion of connectivity in the early weblog adjacent world. SOAP was basically XML-RPC++, with namespaces, 4 part harmony, and 8x10 color glossy photographs. It's the codification of XML-RPC adding all of those XML features, data types, and interface definitions. It's also a miracle if there's any interop between different stacks.