Essential Windows Communication Foundation (WCF): For .NET Framework 3.5 (Paperback)

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Key Phrases: configuration element, basic profile, enterprise library, Visual Studio, Add Service Reference, Binding Extension (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

“Whether this is the first time or the fifty-first time you’re using WCF, you’ll learn something new by reading this book.”

 --Nicholas Allen, Program Manager, Web Services, Microsoft

 

Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) is the easiest way to produce and consume Web services on the Microsoft platform. With .NET 3.5, WCF has been extensively revamped--and Visual Studio 2008 gives developers powerful new tools for utilizing it. Essential Windows Communication Foundation shows developers exactly how to make the most of WCF with .NET 3.5 and Visual Studio 2008.

 

Drawing on extensive experience working with early adopters, three Microsoft insiders systematically address the topics developers ask about WCF. The authors approach each subject with practical advice and present best practices, tips, and tricks for solving problems. Throughout, you’ll find detailed explanations, solutions for the “pain points” of WCF development, and an extensive collection of reusable code examples. Coverage includes

• Using WCF contracts to define complex structures and interfaces
• Understanding WCF’s channel stacks and channel model architecture
• Configuring the WCF communication stack to use only the protocols you need
• Using standard and custom service behaviors to manage concurrency, instances, transactions, and more
• Serializing data from .NET types to XML Infosets and representing Infosets “on the wire”
• Hosting WCF services via IIS, managed .NET applications, and Windows Activation Services
• WCF security, in depth: authentication; transport and message-level security; and Internet and intranet scenarios
• Improving reliability: exception handling, diagnostics, and more
• Workflow services: new integration points between WCF 3.5 and Windows Workflow Foundation
• Building client-to-client, peer network-based applications
• Utilizing WCF for non-SOAP Web services: AJAX and JSON examples and .NET 3.5 hosting classes

Microsoft’s Steve Resnick, Richard Crane, and Chris Bowen are technology experts at the Microsoft Technology Center in Boston. They specialize in helping customers improve their technical agility by applying WCF and related technologies. Resnick has specialized in Internet technologies and distributed computing at Microsoft since 1995. He is a frequent speaker at Microsoft events and is now technology director for the U.S. Microsoft Technology Centers. Crane has more than 15 years of experience in senior software development roles. He specializes in large-scale Web sites, distributed computing, transactional systems, and performance analysis. Bowen has been an architect and developer for more than 15 years at companies such as Monster.com and Staples and is co-author of Professional Visual Studio 2005 Team System.

 

Foreword xxv

Preface xxvii

Chapter 1: Basics 1

Chapter 2: Contracts 33

Chapter 3: Channels 91

Chapter 4: Bindings 111

Chapter 5: Behaviors 181

Chapter 6: Serialization and Encoding 241

Chapter 7: Hosting 287

Chapter 8: Security 315

Chapter 9: Diagnostics 375

Chapter 10: Exception Handling 403

Chapter 11: Workflow Services 423

Chapter 12: Peer Networking 459

Chapter 13: Programmable Web 503

Appendix: Advanced Topics 537

Index 553

About the Author

Steve Resnick has worked at Microsoft since the mid-1990s, spanning architect, developer, and evangelist roles in the field. He specializes in Internet technologies, architecting and designing high-volume, high-value Web applications. Steve is the National Technology Director for the Microsoft Technology Centers in the United States, where he sets strategy and direction so that his team can solve the toughest customer challenges. He has worked with .NET since the beginning and is an expert in Web services, BizTalk, transaction processing, and related technologies. He holds a M.S. and B.S. in Computer Science from Boston University and University of Delaware, respectively.

 

Rich Crane is a Technical Architect at the Microsoft Technology Center in Waltham, Massachusetts. A software architect and engineer with more than 18 years of experience, Rich has spent the last six years helping customers architect and build solutions on the Microsoft platform. He has worked with numerous Microsoft products and technologies and is an expert in BizTalk, SQL Server, SharePoint, Compute Cluster Server, and of course Visual Studio and the .NET Framework. He has spoken at conferences and community events such as TechEd and Code Camp. He graduated Summa Cum Laude from Drexel University with a B.S. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering.

 

Chris Bowen is Microsoft’s Developer Evangelist for the northeastern United States, specializing in development tools, platforms, and architectural best practices. Asoftware architect and engineer with 15 years of experience, Chris joined Microsoft after holding senior positions at companies such as Monster.com, VistaPrint, Staples, and IDX Systems, and consulting on Web presence and e-commerce projects with others. He is coauthor of Professional Visual Studio 2005 Team System (2006, WROX) and holds an M.S. in Computer Science and a B.S. in Management Information Systems, both from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

 

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Product Details

• Paperback: 608 pages
• Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional; 1 edition (February 21, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0321440064
• ISBN-13: 978-0321440068
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #70,664 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This item is part of The Microsoft .NET Development Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I expected a lot and it delivered, May 29, 2008

By	William G. Ryan "Uber Book Nerd" (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I'm a big fan of the entire "Essential" series from Addison-Wesley and I expected a lot from this book. I could sum up my opinion on it by saying "It delivers".

My vantage point is a little different from most in that I was coauthor of a book on Winfx/Indigo and I teach WCF. The pool of books out there on WCF are all quite good when compared to other technologies. I think that's b/c in large part, enterprise technologies aren't usually used by beginners and there's been a general reluctance to embrace WCF from what I've seen. I suspect this is in large part b/c you have to relearn Remoting/WS/WSE/MSMQ/Enterprise Services. Once you dive into it though, you quickly realize that WCF is almost too good to be true.

This book does a few things very well. First off, it explains each of the concepts clearly. I find that the authors all write well and are very good at succinctly communicating whatever they are talking about without ever talking over your head. The level of detail is very good too. A few places they could have went deeper (for instance, I think MTOM should have gotten more than a brief descriptive few sentences) but on the whole, I think the covered topics in proportion with how much they are used in the marketplace. They use a good bit of both simple and more involved expamples so if this was your first WCF book, you'd be well served but if you've read several WCF books, you'd still be glad you bought the book. I've bought both the print version and the Kindle version (which I love) and don't believe I've come across any errors. As such, I'd have to say the editing is very good, although that's not surprising in the least from this series. Another nice feature of the book is that while it has three authors, the writing style if very similar. So you get the benefit of three different people's experience without having the problems related to three different writing styles.

I found this book to be very helpful overall and even though I was well versed in most of the stuff they cover, I still found it a great reference. I've purchased copies of it for everyone on my staff and that's perhaps the highest compliment I could pay it - in addition to buying both the hard cover and Kindle version. I suspect if you buy it, you'll be glad you did.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WCF how to with VS2008, March 1, 2008

By	M. Hennessy (Manchester, CT USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

A remarkably well organized and easy to read WCF how-to with respect to VS2008. Starts out with a basic service comparing code and configuration implementations. Subsequent chapters evolve gracefully reducing complexity to incremental understanding. Resulting SOAP and WSDL is presented with careful attention to cause and effect. WCF Services are compared with ASMX Web Services providing basic knowledge for newbies and practical information needed to move forward with WCF. Real world issues, like versioning, are regularly presented with mitigating strategies. In a technology library of hundreds, this is one of the best in terms of content and construction.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply the best, October 23, 2008

By	Mohammed Sourouri (Oslo, Norway) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I already own a couple of books on WCF - but none of them seemed to cover important (and advanced) topics such as serializers and bindings in-depth. But this book does, and it does it in a way that is both thorough and smart.

Sometimes it can be hard to make the right choice of components, but luckily, this book comes with a lot of useful and great comparison matrix' on different subject, which makes decisioning really easy.

All in all, this is one of the best book on WCF, but for me, this stands out to be the best. Highly recommended.