Editing: Windows Workflow Foundation (WF) Overview

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<html> <body> <p>[toc]<br> <br> Windows Workflow Foundation (WF) provides a programming model, in-process workflow engine and rehostable designer to implement long-running processes as workflows within .NET applications. Workflows are built using activities, which define units of work. These activities are composed together into a tree of activities that are then executed by the runtime. Workflows can be created using the workflow designer hosted inside of Visual Studio, created using code or [[XAML]], and the workflow designer can be rehosted in a custom .NET application outside of Visual Studio.</p> <hr> <h2><a name="Getting_Started_with_WF"></a>Getting Started with WF</h2> <p>There are many good resources for getting started with WF. The <a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/netframework/aa663328.aspx"> .NET Framework Developer Center</a> for WF (on MSDN) has many good resources. There are also some introductory screencasts <a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/netframework/wf-screencasts.aspx">here</a>, and two good whitepapers in the MSDN Library: <a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd851337.aspx">The Workflow Way: Understanding Windows Workflow Foundation</a> and <a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee342461.aspx">A Developer's Introduction to Windows Workflow Foundation (WF) in .NET 4</a>. The <a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd489441.aspx">WF MSDN documentation</a> contains a <a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd489454.aspx">Getting Started Tutorial</a> which walks through the basic steps of creating workflows and hosting them. There are also hands-on labs for WF. They are available as part of the <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=752CB725-969B-4732-A383-ED5740F02E93&displaylang=en"> Visual Studio 2010 and .NET 4 Training Kit</a> on the Microsoft Download Center, (which includes labs for many areas of .NET 4 and VS other than WF), and are also available integrated within Visual Studio <a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/b/rjacobs/archive/2010/07/21/new-hands-on-lab-introduction-to-wf4.aspx"> from the Ron Jacobs MSDN blog</a>.</p> <hr> <h2><a name="WF_Community_Resources"></a>WF Community Resources</h2> <h3><a name="Forums"></a>Forums</h3> <ul> <li><a href="http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/wfprerelease/threads">.NET 4: Windows Workflow Foundation</a> forum hosted on MSDN. </li></ul> <h3><a name="Blogs"></a>Blogs</h3> <ul> <li><a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/b/rjacobs/">Ron Jacobs (.NET 4 WF/WCF/AppFabric Developer Evangelist for Microsoft)</a> </li><li><a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/b/endpoint/">The .NET Endpoint</a> </li><li><a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/b/tilovell/">The Activity Designer</a> </li><li><a href="http://xhinker.com/category/WF4.aspx">Xhinker | WF4</a> </li><li><a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/b/kushals/">Kushal Shah - Workflows</a>  </li><li><a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/b/patcarna/">Patrick Carnahan's blog</a> </li><li><a href="http://msmvps.com/blogs/theproblemsolver/archive/tags/WF4/default.aspx">The Problem Solver</a> </li></ul> <h3><a name="Screencasts"></a>Screencasts</h3> <ul> <li><a href="http://channel9.msdn.com/shows/Endpoint/">endpoint.tv</a> </li><li><a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/netframework/wf-screencasts.aspx">.NET Framework Developer Center WF Screencasts</a> </li></ul> <hr> <h2><a name="WF_Wiki_Pages"></a>WF Wiki Pages</h2> <p>The following links are articles in the TechNet Wiki (the site that you are on right now). 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. (For example, if you know of a good WF resource that is not linked on this overviewpage, please feel free to add it in the appropriate section, or create a new section!) Or if you have knowledge that would be useful to others, create a new page to share it.</p> <ul> <li><a href="http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/windows-workflow-foundation-wf-faq.aspx">Windows Workflow Foundation FAQ</a> </li><li><a href="http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/search/SearchResults.aspx?q=WF">WF Wiki Pages</a> </li></ul> <hr> <h2><a name="See_Also"></a>See Also</h2> <ul> <li><a href="http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/wiki-list-of-technologies-and-related-topics.aspx" title="Click to view the page titled: Wiki: List of Technologies and Related Topics" class="ExistingPageLink"><span style="color:#0066dd">List of Technologies and Related Topics</span></a> </li></ul> <hr> <h2><a name="Other_Languages"></a>Other Languages</h2> <p>This article is also available in the following languages:</p> <h3><a name="Deutsch_de-DE"></a>Deutsch (de-DE)</h3> <ul> <li><a href="http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/5431.windows-workflow-foundation-wf-uberblick-de-de.aspx" title="Windows Workflow Foundation (WF) Überblick (de-DE)">Windows Workflow Foundation (WF) Überblick (de-DE)</a> </li></ul> <h3><a name="Português_pt-BR"></a>Português (pt-BR)</h3> <ul> <li><a href="http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/pt-br/contents/articles/15991.windows-workflow-foundation-visao-geral.aspx" target="_blank">Windows Workflow Foundation (WF) Visão Geral (pt-BR)</a> </li></ul> </body> </html>
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