4253.  Windows Communication Foundation Using Visual Basic

Rev. 4.1

 

Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) is Microsoft’s new framework for building distributed systems. It unifies and builds on the diverse set of existing distribution mechanisms, which include ASP.NET Web services and .NET Remoting. WCF enables developers to produce highly configurable, secure, reliable and transactional services using a single simplified programming model. And since WCF supports the WS-* series of Web service standards, it enables simple interoperation with other platforms and technologies.

 

This course provides a thorough grounding in this important technology. The first chapter covers the essential concepts and shows how to implement WCF services and clients. The “ABC” of address, binding and contracts are covered in detail. Service contracts and data contracts are elaborated, and instance management is covered. The course concludes with a discussion of error handling and security. A large number of working examples and lab exercises are provided. The course uses .NET 4.0 and Visual Studio 2010.

 

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

 

·         Learn what WCF is, and how it unites existing distribution mechanisms

·         Gain an understanding of addressing and binding in WCF services

·         Use service contracts and data contracts

·         Implement WCF services and clients

·         Perform configuration in both code and configuration files

·         Understand faults and handle errors in WCF applications

·         Implement security in WCF applications

 

Course Duration: 3 days

 

Prerequisite: Students should have a good working knowledge of building .NET applications with Visual Basic. Knowledge of building distributed systems and Web services will also be an advantage.

 

1.      WCF Essentials

What is WCF?

Address, Binding and Contract

WCF Services and Clients

WCF Service Libraries

WCF Test Host and Test Client

Self-Hosting

WCF Clients

Channel Factories

Creating Proxies

Configuration Files

Metadata

Standard Endpoints

WCF Architecture

 

2.      Addresses and Bindings

Addresses

Bindings

Message Exchange Patterns

Configuring Bindings

Interoperating with ASMX Web Services

Default Endpoints and Bindings

Service Descriptions

Multiple Endpoints

 

3.      Service Contracts

Defining Service Contracts

Defining Operation Contracts

Services with Multiple Contracts

Contract Inheritance

Operation Overloading

 

4.      Instance Management

Using Per-Call Services

Using Per-Session Services

Using Singleton Services

Configuring Behaviors

Windows Forms WCF Clients

 

5.      Data Contracts

Implementing Data Contracts

Mapping Data Contracts to XSD Schema

Serialization

Arrays and Generic Collections

Enums

Versioning Data Contracts

 

6.      More about Service Contracts

Versioning Service Contracts

Implementing Message Exchange Patterns

Oneway Contracts

Duplex Contracts

Asynchronous Proxies

 

7.      Handling Errors

Faults and Exceptions

Generating and Handling Faults

Fault Contracts

Faults and Sessions

 

8.      WCF Security

Security Aspects of Services

Transport Security

Message Security

Certificates

Credentials

 

Appendix A. Learning Resources

 

Appendix B. Hosting in IIS 7.5

 

Installing IIS 7.5

IIS Manager

An IIS Hosted Service

 

System Requirements

 

Course exercises require Microsoft .NET 4.0 and Visual Studio 2010 Professional Edition or higher. The preferred operating system is Windows 7 with Internet Information Services 7.5. Service Pack 1 for Visual Studio 2010 and Microsoft .NET Framework 4 Platform Update 1 – Design-time Package for Visual Studio 2010 SP1 are recommended. See the appropriate course Setup Guide for details.

 

A good minimal hardware profile for this course consists of a 2 GHz or better CPU, 1 GB of RAM, and at least 4 GB of free disk space for tools installation and courseware.