This easy-to-use introduction to Microsoft Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) is ideal for developers who want to learn to build services on a company network or as part of an enterprise system. Built into Windows Vista and Longhorn, and available for Windows XP and Windows 2003, WCF provides a platform for service-oriented architecture (SOA) that enables secure and reliable communication among systems within an organization or across the Internet. With WCF, software developers can focus on their business applications and not the plumbing required to connect them. Furthermore, with WCF developers can learn a single programming API to achieve results previously provided by ASMX, Enterprise Services and .NET Remoting. Learning WCF removes the complexity of using this platform by providing detailed answers, explanations and code samples for the most common questions asked by software developers.

Windows Communication Foundation (or WCF, formerly code name "Indigo") provides a set of programming APIs that make it easy to build and consume secure, reliable, and transacted services. This platform removes the need for developers to learn different technologies such as ASMX, Enterprise Services and .NET Remoting, to distribute system functionality on a corporate network or over the Internet. The first truly service-oriented platform, WCF provides innovations that decouple service design and development from deployment and distribution - creating a more flexible and agile environment. WCF also encapsulates all of the latest web service standards for addressing, security, reliability and more.

Lab samples for VSTS 2008,  February 10 2009
Submitted by Anonymous Reader   [Respond | View]

Michele - the book is v articulate and thought I am not done yet, it has held my rapt interest.

pls guide where can i find VS 2008 samples/labs.
The link does not have VS 2008 samples.

Cheers
WCF Junkie


RE: Love it and hate it!,  February 10 2009
Submitted by Anonymous Reader   [Respond | View]

Pls point me to the link for the webcast and VS 2008 compatible labs....am plodding thru this book and want to download the labs :)


Nice book,  January 14 2009
Submitted by Anonymous Reader   [Respond | View]

Very helpful book. Michelle, let's be in touch, please email me. Thanks.


Bloody Marvellous,  October 21 2008
Submitted by C#Developer   [Respond | View]

I tried to read another book on this subject and after re-starting from the beginning 3 times decided to search for another book.

I came across Michele's book and haven't looked back.

All the nagging unknowns I had have been covered clearly and succintly.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

And yes Michele, I too now get excited about WCF.

Dean
Sydney, Australia


RE: Love it and hate it!,  October 11 2008
Submitted by Anonymous Reader   [Respond | View]

This is an update to my original book review. After reading the review Michelle contacted me by email in reference to my comment about the labs not working. She suggested that I navigate to her website where the VS2008 versions of the labs could be found. Since downloading the updated lab files, I have not had a problem with them. There is also a link (actually a set of links) on one of her web pages to a 15 part webcast on WCF. These webcasts are a nice companion to the printed text and use essentially the same example files.

Michelle was very eager to resolve any problems I had with the book. It is nice to know that she reads this page and cares about her readers.

I said in my original review that if the labs worked I would rate the book as a 5 so I am keeping my word.


Out-of-date,  August 29 2008
Submitted by Anonymous Reader   [Respond | View]

Overall this is a useful and well-written book. However, it is out-of-date in many respects. For instance, it does not reflect the many changes in WCF project for VS2008. Given the publication date this isn't the author's fault, but if you can find a more up-to-date book you might.

The link here to the author's example files is (at least at the moment) broken. This can be very annoying if you want to see things working without doing a lot of typing. Given at least one of the other reviews here, maybe I shouldn't count on them all working anyway.



Love it and hate it!,  August 26 2008
Submitted by Anonymous Reader   [Respond | View]

I'm an experienced C++/MFC programmer that is new to C# and .NET. I needed to come up to speed on WCF and after reading reviews on amazon.com and examing the available titles for WCF in the local B&N superstore, I settled on this one.

The main feature that sold me on this book is the labs. That is what I hate most about this book. After the first one or 2 labs you need the starter files to do the lab. I don't understand why everytime I open up one of the downloaded lab/sample files it loads up with .NET Framework 2.0. I thought WCF didn't come to be until .NET 3.0. It took me a long time to remember to convert the .NET framework version to v 3.5 when starting a lab.

In addition, a lot of the labs won't run. I get exceptions. the completed labs (at least the ones I've tried) have all compiled and run. when I encounter a lab that won't compile or run, I compare it to the completed lab file by file and very often I can't find any differences except that the completed labs will run and the ones that started from the starte files won't.

I think the info in the book is good but is no better or worse than I'd seen in other WCF titles.

I bought it because of the labs and that is the books weakest feature.

If all the labs using the starter files worked as expected, I would give this book a 5. However, I was torn between a 2 and a 3 and I decided to go with a 3.

Ira Idelson


Good place to start with WCF,  February 11 2008
Submitted by David Yack   [Respond | View]

WCF represents a bold step to unify a number of previous concepts for distributed messaging. In Learning WCF, Michelle takes on the challenging task of explaining WCF. It is a challenging task because on the outside WCF is a simple concept, a unified way to expose and interact with one or more loosely coupled services. As you dive beyond the simple concept, you begin to learn the mechanics of how all the pieces work together. In Learning WCF, it walks you through from the basics of the Hello WCF example more complex examples using WCF.

Learning WCF includes complete discussions on how to define your service contracts and data serialization. While from a consumer or service point of view protocols should be transparent, from an implementer point of view, it is important to understand the inner workings and Learning WCF highlights these in the right level of detail. After reading the book, you feel that you’ve got a good idea of the protocols but don’t feel like you just read the protocol specification.

Learning WCF integrates into most of the chapters labs that help demonstrate and explain the concepts of that chapter. Each of the labs are used as a way to more clearly illustrate and highlight tips for the topic being discussed. By having the labs integrated into the book, Learning WCF is a great resource for quickly getting your hands around WCF.

Today the pace of change for developers is amazing and keeping up can be a daunting task. Learning WCF is a book I would recommend for getting your hands around WCF and to keep on your bookshelf to reference as you begin to use WCF with your projects. WCF is a key architecture change in how Microsoft Developers do distributed messaging and one that as developers or architects we cannot ignore.



Great Read...so far,  December 11 2007
Submitted by MACHO   [Respond | View]

I'm only on Chapter 3 but so far this is a great technical read! However, the book refers to "included files" and the book I bought did not come with a disc so I'm guessing that the book is implying to the files online. Would have been nice to include a disc with the files (it was a pricey book after all). Was this a mistake or a way to save some money???

Also, the supporting files (downloaded) include database scripts that do not work with earlier versions of SQL Server - in particular SQL Server 2000. That's a little annoying.

But don't get me wrong. Other than these 2 small issues Michele offers an excellent technical read with this book. WCF is very exciting and I look forward to future books by Michele!

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