International contributors in informatics, electrical engineering, and computer science give insight on the current research status of service-oriented computing (SOC) and service-oriented architecture (SOA) from the software engineering perspective. The book is organized into eight research themes, which also reflect the main activities or steps in the lifecycle for developing and operating SOA-based systems. After an introduction to foundations of service-oriented computing, sections cover service provision and design, delivery, service search and selection, service composition, verification and validation, and service management. Some specific topics include a QoS-aware service bus with a WSLA-based monitor for media production systems, and adaptive and dynamic service compositions in the Open Service Gateway Initiative (OSGi) service platform. A final section presents applications, such as an SOA-designed health care system for the Taiwanese government. The book includes an extensive glossary. Lee is professor of computer science and information engineering at National Central University, Taiwan. Annotation ©2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)