Introducing WCF Basics

During the past decade, a lot of research has been done in the field of distributed computing. Microsoft and other leading vendors have come up with various distributed technologies. Each of the technologies reduces the convolution of building rich applications and lowers development costs. The latest from Microsoft is Windows Communication Foundation (WCF), the next-generation uniform way of developing distributed applications by providing a service-oriented programming model.

WCF (formerly known as Indigo) handles the communication infrastructure of Windows Vista and has been extended to Windows XP and Windows 2003 through the .NET Framework 3.0 (formerly known as WinFX). The .NET Framework 3.0 is a managed programming model for Windows (Windows XP, Windows 2003, and Windows Vista) that is designed to replace the Win32 application programming interface (API) in future releases. WCF provides the communication infrastructure that allows you to create diverse ranges of applications through its simplified model. Based on the notion of services, WCF contains the best features of today's distributed technology stack to develop the connected systems.

After completing this chapter, you will have the following knowledge:

• You'll know about existing distributed technologies and their pitfalls.

• You'll know about the key architectural concepts that underpin WCF.

• You'll have seen a high-level overview of WCF's features.

• You'll understand how WCF unifies existing distributed technologies.