Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) is an architectural pattern for developing distributed systems as standalone software services, characterized by three main components: service provider, service requester, and service publisher. Key aspects of SOA include discoverability, reusability, and interoperability of services, which can be exemplified through various real-world applications like weather reporting and currency conversion. Model-Driven Engineering (MDE) is discussed as a methodology in software engineering that enhances program specification and automates development through the use of conceptual models.