Sun’s JAX Pack includes APIs geared for both approaches: JAX-RPC (Java API for XML-based RPC) for RPC-style Web services, and JAXM for document-style services.

The JAX-RPC name, which stands for Java API for XML-based RPC, is misleading because developers assume it is only about RPC, according to Doug Kohlert, a Sun staff engineer, in his blog this week.

Sun is also releasing an updated Java API for XML Processing, which now supports the latest XML standards, Manes said. The interface integrates Java software with XML parsers.