Communication options for client-server software system with heterogeneous clients

Our team is in the design phase of a client-server database software project. We're intending to develop a single database server system, probably using MySQL with a database interface/abstraction layer, possibly written in Java. We will also (eventually) have multiple client programs talking to the server. So the question is, what do we use for communication between the server and what could end up being several totally different clients? (Think Android, iPhone, desktop, or even a Web server, forwarding to a browser.)

The two main camps right now are arguing between using:

1. com开发者_如何学JAVApletely custom socket software, because it should allow system independence,

2. exposing a Web service of some kind, because it would provide higher-level functionality

Any ideas? I know "Web service" and "Web API" are very general terms that sort of evoke nauseating buzzword-crazy five-year-old tech media, but they are definitely a valid option. Right?

Plain socket APIs have the advantage of working anywhere. The disadvantage is that they're hard to do right.

Since it sounds like you're going to end up with a database-like API over the network, you should at least consider oData.