Windows Communication Foundation Overview

Windows Communication Foundation Overview

Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) is a system for creating connections between applications using services and endpoints. WCF is, more than anything, an infrastructure technology for messages. Just as roads support cars, and as electricity travels over wires and cables, and as pipes convey water, WCF exists to transfer messages between any two endpoints. And it does so securely as well. That is, you can create messages that are encrypted to keep your information safe from criminal minds.

As such a basic function, WCF is integrated into many other technologies. For example, Windows Workflow provides a great model for creating certain kinds of applications, but it needs a host for workflow activities—which is what WCF provides. Another example is the WCF Data Services. OData is an open protocol that enables data services to provide data in one common format; but WCF is still the underlying transport.

For more technical information about WCF, see WCF Architecture Overview.

For Beginners

For videos and more, see the beginner’s page on the Microsoft Developer Center.

For a hands-on lab that you can work through, see the WCF Tutorial.

Forums

If you have a question, try the WCF Forum.
Other forums that touch on WCF topics include the
Workflow forum, AppFabricService and Workflow Management forum, and the ASMX Web Services and XML Serialization forum.

WCF Wiki Pages

Of course, you are now on the WCF wiki. The wiki allows you to add your personal knowledge and expertise to a public forum. If an existing topic needs work, and you have the expertise, please fix it. Or if you have knowledge that would be useful to others, create a new page to share it.

Books



See Also


Other Languages

This article is also available in the following languages:

Deutsch (de-DE)

Português (pt-BR)

Leave a Comment
  • Please add 2 and 3 and type the answer here:
  • Post
Wiki - Revision Comment List(Revision Comment)
Sort by: Published Date | Most Recent | Most Useful
Comments
  • Richard Mueller edited Revision 25. Comment: Removed tag "MS"

  • Carsten Siemens edited Revision 24. Comment: Fixed misspelling

  • Luigi Bruno edited Revision 22. Comment: Added the "Books" section.

  • Ed Price - MSFT edited Revision 19. Comment: We're not going to add "(en-US)" to the titles because of various difficulties. Please continue to add the tag though!

  • Horizon_Net edited Revision 13. Comment: updated formatting

  • Horizon_Net edited Revision 12. Comment: updated formatting

  • Horizon_Net edited Revision 11. Comment: added link to german version, updated language tags, and added toc

  • Nevin Janzen edited Revision 10. Comment: Tags Edit

  • Ed Price - MSFT edited Revision 9. Comment: Font formatting

  • Ed Price MSFT edited Revision 6. Comment: Let's remove "Wiki" from the title. Every topic could have the word "Wiki" for this reason.

Page 1 of 2 (13 items) 12
Wikis - Comment List
Sort by: Published Date | Most Recent | Most Useful
Posting comments is temporarily disabled until 10:00am PST on Saturday, December 14th. Thank you for your patience.
Comments
  • Sidney edited Revision 2. Comment: reformat

  • Sidney edited Revision 3. Comment: add a tag to adding-an-appfabric-wcf-workflow-service-to-a-web-site-by-using-visual-studio-2010.asp

  • Sidney edited Revision 4. Comment: fixed link

  • Ed Price MSFT edited Revision 6. Comment: Let's remove "Wiki" from the title. Every topic could have the word "Wiki" for this reason.

  • Ed Price - MSFT edited Revision 9. Comment: Font formatting

  • Good summery of (beginner) resources.

  • How about adding a link to the WCF 4 samples?

    msdn.microsoft.com/.../dd483346.aspx

  • Nevin Janzen edited Revision 10. Comment: Tags Edit

  • Great article.  

  • Horizon_Net edited Revision 11. Comment: added link to german version, updated language tags, and added toc

  • Horizon_Net edited Revision 12. Comment: updated formatting

  • Horizon_Net edited Revision 13. Comment: updated formatting

  • Ed Price - MSFT edited Revision 19. Comment: We're not going to add "(en-US)" to the titles because of various difficulties. Please continue to add the tag though!

  • Luigi Bruno edited Revision 22. Comment: Added the "Books" section.

  • Carsten Siemens edited Revision 24. Comment: Fixed misspelling

Page 1 of 2 (16 items) 12