How to build a simple XML web service using .NET Framework tools and a text editor

XML Web services are the fundamental building blocks in the move to distributed computing on the Internet. Open standards and the focus on communication and collaboration among people an]d applications have created an environment where XML Web services are becoming the platform for application integration. Applications are constructed using multiple XML Web services from various sources that work together regardless of their platforms and environments or how they were implemented. Exposing existing applications as XML Web services allows users to build applications that use XML Web services as building blocks. For example, a user might develop a purchasing application to automatically obtain price information from a variety of vendors, allow the user to select a vendor, submit the order and then track the shipment until it is received. The vendor application, in addition to exposing its services on the Web, might in turn use XML Web services to check the customer's credit, charge the customer's account and set up the shipment with a shipping company. Both the vendor and the user application environments can be based upon completely different environments, without affecting the communication between the two in any way.