Everything starts from the data and the only truth that exists is on the wire!

I've been doing a lot of work these days with web services that are designed to be Interoperable.  The primary driver is the existence of multiple web service stacks in my environment including Apache Axis, BEA, .NET and more.  I am not going to get into the Code-First vs. WSDL/Schema-First debate. I personally believe that you can significantly minimize the number of Interop issues if you start from the Schema rather than the Code..... provided that you start from a constrained subset of the schema that is supported by your target web service stacks.

As such, it is very important that you follow good practices when designing your schema. I've come across some resources that I use and recommend and thought that I would share them.

• XML Schema considerations for WSDL design in conformation with WS-I Basic Profile
  by Shawn X. K. Hu, Xtensible Solutions
  
• Using XML Schema's Effectively in WSDL Design
  by Chris Peltz & Justin Murray [SD West 2004]
• XML Schema Best Practices
  by David Stephenson [HP]
• W3C XML Schema Design Patterns: Avoiding Complexity
  by Dare Obasanjo [XML.com]
• XML Schemas: Best Practices
  by members of the xml-dev list