SOA is an architectural style wherein a service-provider, service-requester and a service-description are involved. It enables the consumer (requester) to discover/find a provider - given the context of the service that is sought. It's characteristics are:
--- loose coupling, reuse and simple and composite implementations.
By Definition:
A system architecture in which application functions are built as components (services) that are
loosely coupled and well-defined to support interoperability and to improve flexibility and reuse.
