Programming WCF Services (Programming)

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I just bought this book and have breezed through most of it. So far, AFAIK, I've picked up each WCF book out there and while all of them are quite good, I was very glad I got this one. Very glad indeed.

If there's one thing this book really brings to the table it's that it really explains architectural 'big picture' aspects of WCF. Reminiscent of how Rocky Lhotka used his Business Objects books to walk through the CSLA, Juval has a series of utilities wrapped into a framework and he walks through 'why' he made them like he did.

This approach is excellent.

AFAIK, this is the biggest of the WCF books I've read running around 600 Pages including the appendices.

The first three chapters discuss the basics of WCF. It covers Data Contracts, SErvice Contracts and WCF Essentials. He dedicates a whole chapter to the subject of Data Contracts and it's ostensibly the most detailed discusson of Data Contracts I've read.

He moves on to Instance Management (spends about 30 pages doing it) and it was insightful to say the least.

Next was Operations. I thought this was one of the weaker chapters of the book, but it's also comparitively short (and realize that I'm rating the book a 5 - so 'weak' is relative - it's still a great discussion)

THe discussion of Faults comes next. It's concise and to the point without getting tangential.

Next comes Transactions. It goes about 70 pages and leaves you wanting for nothing. Stated simply, it's excellent.

Concurrency Management comes next and again, it's power lies in the fact it's direct and to the point while covering the subject matter thoroughly.

Queued Services comes next. To be honest, I haven't given this chapter more than a cursory read so I won't comment on it. What I read I liked thought.

It concludes with Security and he dedicates roughly 100 pages to the subject. Superb!

He goes on to the appendices where he discusses "Service Orientation" . I suspect most people that read his book already understand this, but it's insightful and is still worth reading even if you are already thoroughly conversant in SO.

THe next piece is the Publish-Subscribe Service discussion. Pretty good overall

Finally it's WCF Coding Standards. Ok, let me start by saying that this is VERY useful. It's a great summary and serves as a very helpful reference. However, I wish he explained some of the points a little more b/c In a few cases, I don't remember seeing the points emphasized much and it's a little hard to fully grasp the "WHy"

For instance, under the Essentials section, #10 states "Do not use SvcUtil or Visual Studio 2005 to generate a config file." In the text, the only thing I saw mentioned on this note was that he's conflicted about the COnfigEditor b/c while it's helpful, it can serve as a crutch. This danger in his opinion offsets any convenience benefit. Ok, if that's why this rule is here, then great. But I really don't know for sure. Most of the other items he mentions are well documented in the text (and maybe this was too and I just missed it, but honestly, I've looked).

There aren't many items I was unsure of, but there were a few. Page references would fix this issue (b/c spelling out why would probably be overkill).

Ok, so my one gripe is that in a supplemental section, he could have done one thing better. By any standard, that qualifies a book for a 5 Rating ;-)

I read with interest some of the comments from other reviewers, and I feel that there is some slight clarification required on the positioning of this book. I don't normally comment on other authors' works, but I believe that one or two of the criticisms in other reviews are possibly a little misplaced.

Now, as author of WCF Step By Step, this might sound like I am blowing my own trumpet a little, but this is not the intention. Juval's book is quite superb, and if you are an experienced Web services (or even Remoting) developer who wants to know the ins and outs of how WCF works, then read this book. However, I would argue that this is not a book for someone who is new to the services arena no matter how experienced a developer they are.

In many ways I am very envious of Juval. This is the book that I would love to have written for MS Press, but they felt, quite rightly in my opinion, first that this would quickly become a crowded market, and secondly that there was a need for a book that covered the basics to get people jump started beyond the documentation available on MSDN.

Juval's book is an essential reference work that all WCF developers should have on their desk. However, to get up and running with WCF and to make sure that you fully understand the concepts, you might need to work through something more basic first.

Well, from what I can tell, the author knows his material.

Unfortunately, the book is poorly written. The author simply doesn't write as well as Petzold, Richter and Sells do. He tends to "dive down" into advanced material without making it clear that he is doing so; this makes it difficult to get an overview of the material.

I agree with the earlier reviewer who stated that one should read some _other_ book first to get an overview of the material. Maybe then, this book would be useful.

It still seems poorly organized to me, though.

As always Juval has delivered excellence!!! This is a great book on WCF. The material in the book is unique in that it addresses the real world reasons for using WCF in the way Juval recommends. He gives information in this book that you are not going to find elsewhere.

The book is full of code that can be referenced and used as helper classes in your own code. The coding example explanations are very thorough.

The book covers using WCF in a Service Oriented fashion. It includes an appendix on coding service oriented applications giving the benefits, tenets and principles, practical principles, and optional principles. This is not "Service Oriented Architecture", it is "Service-Orientation".

In this book Juval takes us to the next level of programming. Object-Orientation -> Component-Orientation -> Service-Orientation.

If you are a NET (dot removed so Amazon does not delete it) Architect or NET Developer who is going to move on to NET 3, you must read this book.

All the code from the book is available for download from the IDesign web site. The source will be available on O'Reilly. They are just slow to post it.

If you do a search on Google Blogs for Programming WCF Services Book Source Code, you will find a link to the code. Sorry I cannot provide a direct link. Amazon would delete it from the review.

This book is excellent. I find myself reading chapters over and over not because they are difficult to understand, but because they are chock-full of useful information. This is information not found in other WCF books and it really highlights the fact that Juval was very close to the WCF code and the WCF developers.

Keep in mind this book will not hold your hand through coding a WCF service. If you need that level of detail (I did), then I recommend an afternoon with the internet where you will find plenty of online 'HelloWorld' tutorials. However, once you become comfortable with writing a few simple services, this book becomes invaluable. By the end of Chapter 1, you will have refreshed your memory on writing a simple service, and you will have answered questions that you never thought to ask (things like, What is the default port of the TCP address? Can you have more than one service share a TCP port?). The rest of the chapters are just as informative, and as a result this book excells as not only a book on Programming WCF Services, but also as a reference book on WCF as well. I am constantly lending it out, and I am repeatedly refering to it when I get those 'how do I..' questions from coworkers.

In a company where we are constantly looking for programming Patterns and Best Practices, the Appendix on Coding Standards was icing on the cake for me. Highly recommended for intermediate to advanced WCF programming.

I bought this book based on the hight praised comments from here. Then, I found out this book is very disappointing. It is a kind of "Effective WCF", not the one you want to learn WCF. There is no workable example from the book. So if you are not the vetaran of WCF, this book is not for you.
The MSDN has hand-on documentation for getting started with WCF and more indepth material on WCF. So, I guess that you probablly will not need this book at all.

Read this book after reading a simpler book on WCF. Most of the chapters in this book are disconnected. There are some good subject matter covered but they get usefull when you really write a real Service and you can get it from MSDN. I did'nt see anything like pitfalls and better approach to doing a task. Also its not very concisely written and lot of filler code.

The book is very detailed. I personally didn't like that much the writting style of the author. He begins talking the WCF lingo from start. Also, the introduction where the basics of the concepts are presented is too short.

It's hard to be expert in one area and also get it right in other areas.

Juval writes:

"In the 1960s, higher-level languages such as COBOL and FORTRAN introduced the notion of a compiler. ... . The problem with those first-generation languages was that the code resulted in nonstructured programming, where the code was internally coupled to its own structure, via the use of jump or go-to statements. Minute changes to the code structure had devastating effects in multiple places in the program."

Cobol and Fortran are structured languages (as are (also) C# and Java). The "problem" (or what could be so) was in the IT culture and the way they were used.

Juval continues and writes:
"The 1970s saw the eminence of structured programming via languages such as C and Pascal, which decoupled the code from its internal layout and structure, using functions and structures."

Thus C and Pascal are contrasted with Cobol and Fortran. Functions and structures are though as characteristic of Cobol and Fortran.

The flexibilities of C (and partially Fortran) together with programming idioms that didnt foster good self-documentation or programmer communication (from "the 60's" :-) ) did pose an inspiration for object-orientation and thinking in patterns (or idioms).

Juval continues to talk about the history of OO and component thinking ... also equally misleading in important ways.

But it's otherwise a catchy story -- though misleading.

But does it have to do with WCF? Well, yes and no.
Technically, no.
In applying it to the real world, perhaps yes.

Is Juval unique in this way? No.
Is this WCF book otherwise OK. Yes, probably.

But i'd beware.

This book is not for someone who knows a little WCF concept. Also it's not for the person who wants to find quick solution. After I brought this book, I was trying to understand how to build a WCF webservice, how to host it and how to call it, from the index I got the related sections, after I read them many times, I still don't know how to do it. I have to read other training material to understand it. It has no step by step instruction. It missed lot of steps. I'm dispointed with this book.

The legend has done it again!! Juval's other books on .NET software engineering were good, but this book exceeds them all in content, precision, and examples. The book follows closely to his Master WCF courses he has taught in the past. The book's first chapter on WCF Essentials starts the reader off on the proper trail to mastering WCF properly. The examples are concise and helpful. The book is a great read and extrememly informative. The Appendix which contains an introduction to Service-Orientation is also a very helpful.

Bottom Line: if you have anything to do with WCF, go buy and use this book!

Juval once again delivers a piece of work that is sure to become the de-facto standard for synthesizing the next generation of software engineering.

As a major addition to the .NET Framework, WCF is not merely a new option available to the .NET practitioner, it is the new standard technology for developing distributed applications on the .NET platform while making true standards-based cross-platform interoperability tenable.

In his classic writing style, the author resists the temptation to over-hype the technology by quickly getting right to the point and remaining on task throughout the book. Almost immediately, the reader is immersed in not only the "how" behind WCF, but also, and perhaps of even more importance, the "why".

Make no mistake, WCF is truly revolutionary- and as with all gold rushes that follow releases of this magnitude, choosing the right resources to master it is critical. This book, along with the rich and highly relevant resources available on the IDesign website will provide the intermediate to advanced .NET developer with a deep understanding and a wealth of resources for quickly achieving a level of proficiency and advancing on to mastery.

This book was actually my first exposure to WCF. Many people describe it as a more advanced WCF book than the other more basic ones out there. Although I tend to agree that it is more advanced than other books, I disagree with the implicit suggestion that you shouldn't start with this book if your a beginner. I generally gain better command over a subject by going deep enough to understand what's going on, and what capabilities I have at my disposal.

"Programming WCF Services" does just that. It starts with the simple basics which is important for the novice. But as soon as you understand the basics, you yearn for much more deeper content, which follows in the chapters to come. Although I wish the book would have had a chapter devoted completely to Channels, the overall depth of the book is enough for most use cases that WCF developers will encounter.

Something i really like about Juval Lowy's writing specifically is that he walks you through the thought process of the underlying problem. He shows you the different options that are possible, and then gives his final opinion, thus leaving you satisfied as to why a particular methodology is better than another.

If Juval would consider a 2nd edition, I would recommend a chapter on custom Channel development, and RESTful web services.

All in all, a great book for beginning and intermediate WCF service developers.

Tiene buenas explicaciones de las cosas nuevas de WCF.
Se puede entender bien las funcionalidades y tiene ejemplos programaticos y declarativos (con xml config) para realizar casi todas las operaciones.
Conviene comparlo conjuntamente con "Learning WCF" que tiene ejemplos practicos de los casos mas comunes.
Me gusto.

This book provides true insight in WCF and offers a lot of guidelines to help you in designing your services right. As before, Juval helped me look at WCF from a different perspective and gave me several times the "hmmm I didn't think about it that way" or "oh you can do it like that"-feeling.

Many samples or books (I didn't say all of them :)) on SOA take the classic "StockQuote" or "Online Bookstore" approach which are great for kick-off but tend to bore you after a while because they don't provide you with anything new. This book really helps bringing your skills to the next level.

Many of the resources can be used straight of the shelf in your own projects. This makes this book really value for money.

SOA, Interoperability, WS*, the last vestiges of COM and DCOM. Welcome to WCF. This book is a gem for the serious architect. Juval Lowy's ability to guide the reader through layers of complexity, and present it in a simple form is a talent lost on most. The book is filled pragmatic examples, and guides the reader through scenarios, and leads to conclusion of the architecture design that you will be implementing in a professional capacity. If you want to really understand why Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) is so important, this is an essential read.


My recommendation. Just buy it.

This book is pretty comprehensive. I started learning WCF with the 15-part web series provided by Mrs. Bustamante that accompanies her book. Learning WCF: A Hands-on Guide

I highly recommend her read if you are getting started. However, if you have some familiarity with WCF - this one will take you further. It has plenty of easy-to-understand code samples and a wonderful best practice section near the index. I have been able to incorporate things in this book with business - and that is what really counts.

Writing is art like programming or painting, not every one can be a writer, I cant be a writer, but i know that about myself.
Being technically competent and knowlagable about something does not
nesserarily means you can now go and write a book about it.
The author is a failure when it comes to writing specially technical
books.

a good book writer is for example "Jon Skeet" other writers should take
a look at his style.

This is reading material of the highest quality. Juval Lowy has the true master's ability to make potentially complicated material seem simple and obvious and easy to understand. He does this by combining deep knowledge of the subject matter with extremely clear writing. This is a book I read on the train in the morning, and refer to constantly while I am working on services during the day.

Throughout the book Mr. Lowy develops helper classes that plug some gaps in WCF and make the whole process of working with it easier. This is a plus, but if you don't want to use them, you don't have to.

Stable mate Michele Leroux Bustamante's book takes a more hands-on approach via the inclusion of labs, and quite frankly I think you need both.

WCF is both a deep and a wide technology, and you need a collection of top-quality resources in order to really 'get' it. "Programming WCF Services" is my favourite. Be sure to check out Appendix C, the WCF Coding Standard; he kept the best 'til last!

This book is absolutely brilliant. So much so we purchased numerous copies for our department to assist with work on a major Whole-of-Government project in Australia. We have found it valuable to junior and veteran developers as it provides good coverage of key topics are functional examples.

This book is a must read.

If you are one of the many architects\engineers moving from asp.net web services, enterprise services, or .net remoting to the Windows Communication Foundation, this book is a must have. WCF is wide ranging and Programming WCF Services covers it all. Not just the how, but the why. This book should be on the shelf of every architect building service oriented applications.

When I bought this book, we were new to the WCF technologies and we were working on a SOA-based Windows application. Our engineers have been using the book ever since in our project development. We've been able to use the book as a reference for coding samples and issues that came up during the project. It contains a lot of in-depth discussions and details on how to design/code robust and secure web services. Design and architectural trade-offs are also everywhere in the book. This is a MUST-HAVE for software designers and architects. With the coding samples/scenarios, it's also a great companion for the hard-core software developers too.

Make sure you give yourself plenty of time to digest and appreciate this book. WCF is a huge topic and Juval's work is the most comprehensive and insightful you'll find. This is one of those books that teaches you a technology and makes you a better engineer all at the same time (see the chapter on transactions for a good example of what I mean). Personally, I always keep a copy within 3 feet.

You _can_ buy other beginner books or go fishing on MSDN, but if your goal is to be good at WCF you'll need this book eventually. Another way to look at it is if you take the time to understand this book, you'll be excited instead of overwhelmed when WCF 2.0 comes out.

One of my favorite things about this book is that it serves as a guide and reference both at the same time. While this means it is absolutely packed full of information, it also means that almost everything you need is in one place.

In summary, I highly recommend this book, but only if you're going to take WCF seriously. If you only want a cursory understanding of WCF, you may want to start somewhere else and come back to this book.

Then you need this book.

Juval has produced yet another required addition in any serious .NET architect's library. I have several of his books and this one will join the others, highlighted everywhere, tabbed often, and finally laminated so it will stand the abuse from constant use. His writing style and extensive knowledge of the framework make this for sure a frequently accessed resource.

Filled with well engineered examples and guidance through pragmatic use of the advanced features of this extensive framework, the book targets those who take producing software seriously. If you plan on building solutions that will see real world use, the knowledge and skills you gain from this book will prove invaluable.

He offers to the reader quick and brilliantly presented access to key concepts that are a must for making the correct technical design decisions. After having read the book one is left with the feeling of having taken easy advantage of tactics Juval has developed from what truly must be an enormous number of hours studying, testing and developing against this revolutionary framework.

I've been a fan of Juval ever since I took an al-day seminar with him at DevConnections a few years ago. He's a great teach and a great writer. However, he is not for beginners.

I have previously read Juval Lowy's Programming .NET Components and it was one of few excellent books which gave deeper explanation about .NET. This book is as great as that one and only one of the few books giving a good explanation about WCF and its internals.

Absolutely the best book I've read on Windows Communication Foundation. A must have book. Juwal explain every single WCF detail in a very well simple form but this don't break the value of this excellent book. A book written for beginners, intermediate and professional WCF developers.

Well done, Juwal.

WCF is one of the four major application programming interfaces introduced as part of .NET Framework 3.0. With its enormous power and flexibility, WCF has a very complex and multilayered architecture. After reading some nice overviews on WCF and even writing some simple code with out-of-box facilities provided by WCF, one may get a misleading impression of it being simple and straightforward. Once to delve into real world programming, you would be exposed to huge number of issues and complexities that in most cases may not be overcome without thorough understanding of the subject.
Juval Lowy's book does an outstanding job ob systematically and thoroughly uncovering practically all aspects of WCF programming. Not only it presents a simple to understand architectural picture of WCF in general and various architectural and functional subsystems, but also abandons with practical and thorough explanations of the details of virtually all aspects of WCF.
This book is not a beginner book. For starting with WCF I would recommend Michele Bustamante's book "Learning WCF". Lowy's book is a thorough reference on WCF that soon becomes your primary source of information.
I would like also to note that it does not seem to be the intent of the book to reflect on all internal plumbing of WCF, which realistically needs lot of experimentation. You may find Justin Smith's book as a good supplement to Lowy's book on custom channels and behaviors.

This is THE book to get if you want to master WCF. Author's remarkable ability to jam enormous information in terse paragraphs without making it boring is astonishing, to say the least. If you have read "Programming .net Components" by Juval, you'd know what I mean.

However, here is a warning to the clueless; this book demands a keen and experienced mind. It is not for the faint of heart. For the initiated, "Learning WCF: A Hands-on Guide" is probably a better choice.

This is an excellent book that I would recommend getting after you already have a basic idea of what WCF is. Obviously you can start with this book, but it is drinking from the fire hose. Once you have a basic idea of what WCF is and how it works - get this book to really understand it.

I have purchased almost every book on the subject but I always come back to Programming WCF Services. This book is technically excellent but terse enough not to be boring. Lowy masterfully strikes a great line between a reference manual and a how to book.

If you get a chance, I would suggest his WCF Master Class.

This is the third Juval book that I've purchased. I consider them must-read for serious .Net developers. I did take the WCF master class with Juval, and buying this book afterwards provided a good refresher. It's a very good resource. However, this is not a hand-holding book -- for that, look elsewhere.

For those of you who follow this industry, you know that Juval Lowy is truly a legend and not just because Microsoft says so. Don't rip this man's work simply because you were not aware of what you were buying. Do a little research first. Juval almost always takes a deeper dive into the technology. This book is definitely the book of choice if you're wanting to look under the hood of WCF. If you desire a more hands on approach, I highly recommend Learning WCF by Michele Leroux Bustamante.

I had only written a couple of WCF services before purchasing this book, and had survived by relying on samples found online. After purchasing this book, I no longer find myself looking for samples online. This book starts with the basics of WPF and makes them easy to understand. Then it proceeds into advanced topics such as message security, which had me puzzled until I read the chapter in this book.

One of the things I really appreciate as a C# developer is the fact that almost every example in the book shows how to accomplish the given task in the .config file using the XML configuration elements, and also in pure C# code. Many examples I have seen in the MSDN or other documentation only deal with how to set up a client or server using the .config file which is not always practical.

So that I can have a copy on my desk at home. :)

I'm a developer by trade and read technical books quite a bit to stay up to speed with our evolving industry. Rarely do you find a one that`s hard to put down, typically they're just too dry and uneventful. Juvals Programming WCF Services is an exception to this rule, period. At first, I thought it was my hunger to figure out the new programming model coming out of Redmond that kept me glued to this book, but after a few chapters I realized it was the author's vast knowledge of WCF and his style of delivery that was keeping the pages turning. I had to actually stop working the examples because it was keeping me from reading and bookmarking the pages.

I have recommended this book to a number of my colleagues, and feel that if you're going to do enterprise-level design then this book needs to be within arms reach at all times.

Excellent book, it covers every thing you need to know about WCF. Have in mid that this book is not for begginers

Arguably, WCF is the most revolutionary development in current software trends. It may change completely technological landscape developers live and work in since the appearance of .NET platform.
Juval Lowy (once again!) has written an extraordinary book. Seemingly he has an absolute and complete knowledge on the subject.
What strikes me even more, is how carefull and lovingly Juval leads the reader through the forest of technical details to the deep and solid understanding of both underlying technology and practical implementation of WCF.
If after hours of reading you suddenly feel lost, all you have to do is go back half a page and you are on track again.
I just wish I had such a wonderfull teacher every time I have to learn something new.

Juval writes like a real educator. Where other books fails to explain in simple terms, Juval Löwy is very easy to understand. His book has a wonderful layout, which makes it easy to find what your are looking for.
Thanks Juval Löwy.

If you are going to use WCF in your enterprise applications, then this is the book you want to buy. We are converting our .NET 1.1 web services over to WCF and find this book to be absolutely essential. This is the stuff you can't glean from Internet posts. A truly irreplaceable knowledge builder and reference tool.

I'm part of a middleware group and we are migrating to WCF. This book was just technical enough, concise and it has been very helpful in several cases. It's gotten me started and helped fill in the details where I needed it. Probably my favorite part, was the astute and very well reasoned description of Service-Orientation in Appendix A.

You're not going to waste your time reading fluff like so many other books.

I found the book to cover the basics and move on to advanced topics, and true to IDesign form, with a firm practice of coding to an interface and not Implimentation, Juval's book will take you to the next level and make Architects happy. Juval Lowy book is for practical and scaleable WFC enterprise Services with much detail that I haven't found easily online.

I have a few WCF books on my shelf at home, but I have Lowy's book at work where I need it! If you are a professional programmer, buy the book! Even if don't know what an interface is, buy a c# programming book, then, come back and buy this book if you really want to learn WCF.

The code examples are clean and professional, I love it.

This is an excellent book. If you really want to master WCF this the book that you need to study. After reading many books written by Juval Lowy I think that this one is his best. Just a small advice before you buy it: this is not a beginner's book. It assumes a certain level of experience and knowledge and for sure it is not a "Learn how to use WCF" book. In any case, I would recommend this book 100%!! [...].

I read programming .NET components, Juval's previous book, after I had mastered .NET. The reason was that I knew reading his book would be worthwhile even though "I thought I knew .NET".

This book isn't any different.

What stands out about this book is how the plot opens, thickens, and leads you to the conclusion. It tends to set not only the facts, but the reasoning behind those facts very well in your mind.

A must have for any WCF architect, and kudos for a job well done.

If you're going to get into WCF, then you need this book.

Downloading a few (int) and (string) examples from MSDN is not going to cut it.

Juval takes you through the WCF framework piece by piece and helps you understand what is going on.

He gives you options when you reach those "forks in the road".

He provides an enhancing mini framework that you may choose to use or not to use. (Aka, you are not locked into using the mini-supplemental-framework, but once you see how it will benefit you, you probably will).

The best thing about the book is that you will be much more informed after reading it once, but after you go and "struggle with" WCF on your own, you can come back and find informative information on the 2nd, 3rd, Nth readings.

The book is a must, and after you get your hands around some WCF, you can get more detailed examples at idesign.net. Again, the book is needed so you can get a good foundation, but you have a place to go to get more expert examples.

If you're an architect, and you need the information about using WCF, this book will get you to the place where you're making the best decisions on your architecture.

Having been using WCF for some months now and reviewed a number of WCF books during that time I am firmly of the opinion that Juval Lowy's "Programming WCF" is indubitably the best I have encountered; the proof of this may be found in the fact that it is the only book I have actually purchased for usage by my programming team as opposed to having flicked through or borrowed then discarded.
In the very best tradition of O'Reilly publications it is a true programmer's reference, not just a collection of "Hello World" equivalent samples lifted from MSDN, then compiled and published. It provides a deep level of understanding into the intricacies of WCF and has, in the short time I have owned it, already proved itself a very useful resource for my team.
In addition Juval himself has proven to be generous with his knowledge when contacted personally - I asked a question via email and (from the opposite side of the world) received an extremely helpful response literally within minutes of having sent the email.
His knowledge of WCF is obviously immense; this being conveyed both by the book's content and his response to my question: both my personal and my team's collective knowledge has benefited greatly from exposure to that knowledge, primarily via this book.
I would recommend this as "the" WCF book to any developer working with this technology who has progressed past the initial, beginners, stage of its usage and who is interested in/needs to gain a deeper understanding of the subject.

We use Juval's work as a reference book; each of my developers owns a copy. Note that this is not a step-by-step book. But if you want to understand the thinking that went into the WCF mechansims, why things are the way they are...then this is an essential book. That's not to imply a lack of practical application -- there are plenty of examples to illustrate the points. If your approach is "just show me the code", this is not for you. But if you want rich in-depth guidance on how to best utilize WCF, this book is essential.

This is a brilliant book.

- Extremely well written
- Chapter 1 WCF essentials gets relative newcomers to WCF up and running very quickly
- The remaining chapters are just stuffed with best practices
- Many useful utilities
- A lot of the more advanced content, I didn't quite get, but I understood enough, so that I can easily go back and look for it later, when I need it (which I probably will)

Buy it now!

yah.. pretty much what the others are saying. First book i purchased on WCF was "Pro WCF: Practical Microsoft SOA Implementation" and it wasn't all that interesting, rather a list of facts about wcf with some background leading up to it. this book is a typical oreilly read. concise, yet informative with clear examples in the text. Also, be sure to download the .net 3.0 SDK with samples library for WCF, AND the IDesign website for lots and lots of great examples. between those 2 you should have enough code to look at, and this book will fill in the blanks of what it all means.

This book is one of the best books on WCF.
I have been reading about Service Oriented Application (SOA) for a while and I have tried to develop applications using this style of programming. It a style of programming.

You must be able to answer this question before you can start doing WCF programming.

Q: What is the purpose of WCF?

A: In my understanding WCF is there to make calling "functions" across different boundaries simple. By boundaries I mean application to application, business to business, machine to machine etc. simple.

This book explains all that and more....

Take for example you have a functionality that can translate numbers to words
(e.g. "72" to the words "Seventy-two") or the MS-Word spell and grammar checker.

How many times have you need to reuse some of this same functionality in another application, if you are like me this is often. The standard way is cut and paste and dll's.

What WCF allows you to do is to expose this functionality on the wire across many different boundaries. This exposing comes with a price.
Like how can I secure the communication (authenticate, authorize, encrypt ) , perform transactional work (rollback , commit), handle problem like broken wires a host of other stuff .


FACT: Many people don't understand Object Oriented Programming (OOP) although they use an OOP language like C++, C#, Java. I was guilty of the same about seven years ago. So I went and read many different books on OOP.

The principle is simple. Grasping its importance is another matter.
The principle is: program to an interface, not a concrete type

You can't stress too much how important this principle is.

If you go and read Programming WCF Services with out the above knowledge it will be like reading in a foreign language


Suggested reading
Design Patterns (GoF)
Component Oriented Programming by Juval Lowy ( the light went on here)