May 2008
Michele Leroux
Bustamante, IDesign
Zoiner Tejada,
TejadaNET
Windows Workflow Foundation (WF or, Workflow) is Microsoft’s
technology platform for building workflow-enabled applications. The platform
includes a set of tools for designing and managing workflows, a programming
model for implementing workflow logic, a rules engine, and a workflow runtime
execution engine. Workflow technology can be employed in a wide range of
application scenarios – the most common of which are listed below.
Common production application
scenarios for Workflow
Scenario | Description |
SharePoint 2007 and Workflow | SharePoint 2007 relies on Workflow technology for its
packaged workflows, and for custom workflows created with SharePoint Designer
2007 or Visual Studio 2008. |
Human Workflow | Workflow provides the underlying tools to support both
human and system interaction according to business rules. |
Workflow and WCF Services | Seamless integration between Workflow and WCF enables
workflows to be exposed as services and to coordinate calls to WCF services. |
Coordinating Presentation Flow | Both Windows and web applications can leverage workflows
to drive presentation flow. |
Workflow Designer Re-Hosting | Applications can host the Workflow Designer to provide a
fully customized design experience for developers or business users. |
This article series describes these scenarios: showing the
choices involved in their selection, their implementation, and answering common
questions that may arise during development.