Wrox–Professional WCF 4–Windows Communication Foundation with .NET 4
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- reading: 3 minutes
Couple of weeks ago I got a paper copy of book Pablo Cibraro, Kurt Claeys, Fabio Cozzolino, Johann Grabner - Professional WCF 4: Windows Communication Foundation with .NET 4. This book has not a lot of pages, just about 400. Really, I don’t remember when I saw so thin book about some technology. But maybe this book has not a lot pages, but a lot of interesting themes.
First chapter is patterns and principles of SOA applications. This is the best chapter in this book. When I was reading this chapter I saw that authors have a lot experience of creating applications with Service-oriented architecture. Authors described all possible architecture principles, with which you can create SOA applications. And they did not limit themselves to the principles that are possible with WCF. I think that this chapter is “must read” for all developers, it is doesn’t matter what technologies you are using: php, java or .net. And this is good luck that Wrox published this chapter online: Design Principles and Patterns. It is about 30 pages, so read it right now.
What else you will meet in this book? You will find a little knowledge about WCF-base. So if you a junior WCF-developer, when you finish read this book go to MSDN articles about WCF to know more about fundamentals of WCF. You can read this book for taste WCF technology, but it is not a copy-past from MSDN. This is why you will not find all principles for example of using DataContractAttribute and DataMembetAttribute attributes in this book. So what you will find in this book? There are a lot of themes, from which you can start to comprehend new technologies. This is why I like books like this, a lot of new knowledge, but you should to do a home work too if you want to be an expert in this trend. So you will know about fundamentals of integration Windows Foundation 4 and WCF, you will know how to create SOA-applications for Windows Azure AppFabric Platform, very well covered topics of authentication and security. Separate chapter is dedicated to Federated Security, I had never created applications with Federated Security, but now I’m ready. List of chapters you can find there Contents.
In the last three chapters authors cover three big examples. The first example, after such a flow of information, it seems so simple, and, frankly, the first thoughts that pop up, why is that? It is so simple. But this chapter (11) would be a good gift for beginners in WCF.
I can’t say that book is 100% the best choice. It has minuses too, the main defect of this book – is a horrible formatted code in some examples. I think it is problems of redaction: sometimes closing brackets not on necessary place, sometimes they disappear. But of course you can download source code from official book page.
After reading the book I decided not to waste this knowledge into an empty and go to the exam Exam 70-513: TS: Windows Communication Foundation Development with Microsoft. NET Framework 4. I hadn’t so much experience of development SOA applications with WCF, just about a year, even, perhaps, less. But this book as a basis of knowledge and a bit of MSDN articles have given me enough information to pull up my knowledge and pass this exam. Result:
