Apache Etch 是跨平台，语言和传输方法独立的框架，用来构建和消耗网络服务。Etch 工具集包括一个网络服务描述语言，一个编译器，各种语言绑定库。Etch 同时也是传输方式独立，允许根据需求使用不同的传输方式。Etch 的目标是简单的去定义小的，集中的服务，容易被访问，结合和部署。
Etch 是要提供一个简洁，正式的描述客户端和服务端信息交换，这强大的功能要支持：
support one-way and two-way, real-time communication
high performance and scalability
support clients and servers written in different languages
support clients/servers running in a wide range of contexts (such as thin web client, embedded device, PC application, or server)
support anyone adding new language bindings and new transports
be fast and small, while still being flexible enough to satisfy requirements
finally, it must be easy to use for developers both implementing and/or consuming the service.
