“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.