WCF Basics
WCF is windows communication foundation is a structure that is used for supporting communication between two or more servers irrespective of their platform or technology.
We know that there was a concept called web services prior to WCF. Why we require WCF and the main difference/advantages of WCF over web services is explained in the below paragraph.
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Web Services
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WCF |
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Communication happens over HTTP protocol only |
Communication happens over HTTP/TCP/IP/MSMQ protocols |
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Configured over simplex and request response |
Configured over simplex, request response or even full duplex. |
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Can be hosted inside a webserver only |
Can be hosted in many ways IIS, webserver, windows server or self-hosted |
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Can be used to communicate between applications using same protocols. |
Can be used to communicate between different kinds of applications using different protocols |
ABC’s of WCF
The main concept/pillars behind a WCF service is its ABC’s better known as Address, Binding and Contract.
- Address refers to the address of the service or where the service is located
- Binding refers to how to communicate or which protocol is used to communicate
- Contract refers to the functionalities or services that the service provides to the client. There are various types of Contracts .The basic ones required for a service to function is Service Contract, Operation Contract and the data Contract
