between a SOAP message sent in the body of a HTTP request message and a SOAP message returned in the HTTP response. In SOAP if a specific feature that is required for the application is not available through the binding, then it may be implemented within the SOAP envelope, using SOAP header blocks. SOAP binding mainly supports two types of message exchange patterns. They are request-response exchange pattern and response exchange pattern. In SOAP request-response message exchange pattern, SOAP messages can be exchanged in both directions between two adjacent SOAP nodes. The HTTP POST method can be used for conveying SOAP messages in the bodies of the HTTP request and response message. SOAP response message exchange pattern is used when non- SOAP message exchange is involved and is done when a non-SOAP message as an HTTP request is followed by a SOAP message included as part of the response. The HTTP GET method in a HTTP request is used to return a SOAP message in the body of a HTTP response. It is suggested to use SOAP request-response message exchange pattern when information resource is manipulated and SOAP response message exchange pattern when an application is assured that the message exchange is for information retrieval where the information resource is "untouched" as a result of the interaction. SAAJ (SOAP with attachments API for Java) gives Java APIs for SOAP message creation and manipulation. When it comes to SOAP programing with Java, JAX- RPC (Java API for XML-based RPC) is more popular. JAX-RPC has Java APIs for SOAP that uses SAAJ as an underlying layer. SOAP 1.2, which is most commonly used and based on XML infosets, has been used for the discussion in this chapter, compared to SOAP 1.1 that is based on serializations. SOAP 1.1 does not have a rich feature set in RPC and messaging and missing some of the functionalities defined in SOAP 1.2. Fundamentals of EMS, NMS and OSS/BSS 18.7 NETCONF A wide range of techniques were in use for configuring network elements and IETF formed the NETCONF Working G