Friday, October 29, 2010

WCF BASICS

WINDOWS COMMUNICATION FOUNDATION
1.INTRODUCTION
The aim of this article is to explain the basics of WCF in a manner as simple as possible.It is assumed that the reader doesn’t know anything about WCF or .NET 3.0, however he/she is expected to know .NET 2.0 and/or simple facts like what is a web service.While writing this article (or for any other) I always try to avoid difficult technical words, which may confuse the reader. I have tried to put it in as simple words as possible.At the end of this article, I would hope you understand at least some of the key WCF areas and possibly be inspired enough to try out a project on your own.



2.FUNDA OF WCF

Key Concepts:
a) What is WCF?
WCF stands for Windows Communication Foundation.
WCF is advanced API (Application Programming Interface) for creating distributed applications using .NET framework.
It is introduced in .NET 3.0.
Distributed system in its simplest form is two executable running and exchanging data.
WCF API is found in System.ServiceModel namespace.
WCF is based on basic concepts of Service oriented architecture (SOA)

b) What is a WCF Service?
         A WCF service is a program that exposes a collection of Endpoints (connections) for communicating with either client applications or other service applications.
       
c) What are the components of WCF application?
                          There are three main components of a WCF application
i)      a WCF service
ii)     a WCF service host
iii)     a WCF service client
         d) What is the “ABC” of a WCF Service?
“ABC” of WCF stands for addresses Bindings and contracts respectively.
                i) Addresses:   This is location of the service in the form of an
                URI (Uniform resource Identifier) generally mentioned
                In the config file.

                ii) Bindings: This includes the type of network protocol  used by the
                Service. For Example HTTP, TCP/IP or others.
               
                iii) Contracts:  This is in fact the methods exposed by the WCF service.

e) What is a Service Contract in WCF application?
Service contract is the name of the attribute which is applied to an interface in   a WCF service.


f) What is an Operation Contract in WCF application?
Operation contract is the name of the attribute which is applied to a   method inside the interface of a WCF service

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