Possibilities to Estimate Reliability in XML Format Data Communication in Web Based Distributed Applications

Different possibilities to establish reliability for a web application's communication with an external service provider are examined in this paper. The focus lies on a distributed, two node connection that is using XML messages and various PHP extensions for the communication. Apart from manipulating XML messages or XML Schemas syntax or constraints, it is proposed that some traditional software reliability theory may be used to model the communication. Finally, some ideas on other approaches to model reliability are given.