This easy-to-use introduction to Microsoft Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) is ideal for developers who want to learn to build services on a company network or as part of an enterprise system. Built into Windows Vista and Longhorn, and available for Windows XP and Windows 2003, WCF provides a platform for service-oriented architecture (SOA) that enables secure and reliable communication among systems within an organization or across the Internet. With WCF, software developers can focus on their business applications and not the plumbing required to connect them. Furthermore, with WCF developers can learn a single programming API to achieve results previously provided by ASMX, Enterprise Services and .NET Remoting. Learning WCF removes the complexity of using this platform by providing detailed answers, explanations and code samples for the most common questions asked by software developers. Windows Communication Foundation (or WCF, formerly code name "Indigo") provides a set of programming APIs that make it easy to build and consume secure, reliable, and transacted services. This platform removes the need for developers to learn different technologies such as ASMX, Enterprise Services and .NET Remoting, to distribute system functionality on a corporate network or over the Internet. The first truly service-oriented platform, WCF provides innovations that decouple service design and development from deployment and distribution - creating a more flexible and agile environment. WCF also encapsulates all of the latest web service standards for addressing, security, reliability and more.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 32 Ratings

Be Sure To Get The Correct Printing - 2009-11-24
Reviewer Rating:
There were two printings of the first edition. The 2nd printing has all the labs and examples in VS2008. The first printing uses VS2005. I ordered this book from Amazon well after the 2nd printing was out (I ordered the book in late April 2009...the 2nd printing was in Aug 2008)...BUT...Amazon still sent me the first printing which is less than helpful given that our office has moved to VS2008.

You can get an update of Chapter 1 from the author's blog site. But you will not be able to see updates to the remainder of the book. You should insist that Amazon tell you which print version you're getting before having this book shipped.

Don' waste your money on this book - 2010-02-22
Reviewer Rating:
I used this book as part of a study group to learn WCF. I was encouraged by the rave reviews this book received. However, the first time I read this book, I found it to utterly incomprehensible. The writing makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Not only that but I took the time to download the labs from the book. They wouldn't even compile! DONT WASTE your money on this book. It's by far the worst book that O'Rielly has ever put out. And, I've almost always impressed with O'Rielly titles. You usually can't go wrong with them.

Oh... Now I get it. - 2010-08-04
Reviewer Rating:
I have been trying to get my arms around WCF for some time and recently I got a copy of "Learning WCF" by Michelle Leroux Bustamante. This "second edition" book is almost 2 years old but I was very surprised to find the content extraordinarily useful. The very first chapter, Michelle comes right out of the gate with a unique approach and asks the reader to build a service application from scratch. That's right, no template just raw code. This fundamental example showed me that this author knows her material. The book continues at just the right pace introducing the reader to more and more complexity. There is a ton of research and details presented here. With VS2010 there have been some improvements in WCF templates and new WCF features were added to the 4.0 Framework. Maybe we can encourage Michelle to release another updated edition and include examples in both VB and C#.

All in all this book is a great resource of information and I highly recommend it for both the novice and the expert.

You want to learn WCF, buy this book! - 2010-04-10
Reviewer Rating:
I don't need to give you a ton of reasons why you should get this book. One reason is good enough. If you want to learn WCF get this book and you'll be up and running in a few hours. She sure knows how to explain things.
..Ben

Excellent Book for Beginners - 2010-02-12
Reviewer Rating:
This is an excellent book for beginners. I first bought Lowy's book based on the reviews but it is for the advanced programmers who are already aware of WCF concepts. I finished Michele's book quickly and now will read Lowy's book.

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