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Learning Resources for Windows Communication Foundation

This page describes some of the resources available from Microsoft and other companies to help you learn and explore Windows Communication Foundation.

WCF Books

This section highlights some of the numerous books available to help you understand different topics related to Windows Communication Foundation development.

Inside Windows Communication Foundation
Dig into Windows Communication Foundation internals—and uncover the power of service-oriented design. This practical guide delivers in-depth insights and plenty of code samples to help you master the intricacies of developing and implementing connected applications.

 Microsoft Windows Communication Foundation Step by Step
Teach yourself the essentials of Windows Communication Foundation—one step at a time. With this practical tutorial, you get hands-on guidance for creating the Web services you need to implement robust business applications for Windows.
Professional WCF
Targeted to experienced developers who want to build service-oriented and transactional applications on the Microsoft platform that offer reliable and secure transactional messaging.		 Essential WCF Essential Windows Communication Foundation
Shows developers exactly how to make the most of WCF with .NET 3.5 and Visual Studio 2008.
WCF Unleashed Windows Communication Foundation Unleashed
Designed to be the best resource for software developers and architects working with WCF. The book guides readers toward a conceptual understanding of all the facilities of WCF and provides step-by-step guides to applying the technology to practical problems.		 Pro WCF Pro WCF
A complete guide to WCF from the SOA architecture perspective and shows you why WCF is important to web service development and architecture.
Learning WCF Learning WCF: A Hands-on Guide
Easy-to-use introduction to Microsoft Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) is ideal for developers who want to learn to build services on a company network or as part of an enterprise system.		 Programming WCF Programming WCF Services
Delivers insight, not documentation, to teach developers what they need to know to build the next generation of SOAs.

WCF Virtual Labs

Test drive the .Net Framework 3.5 in a virtual lab and learn about Windows Communication Foundation. Virtual labs are simple, with no complex setup or installation required.

Understanding Windows Communication Foundation 
90 minutes - Posted October, 2006
After completing this lab, you will be better able to demonstrate the capabilities and tools of Windows Communication Foundation.

The Fundamentals of Programming the Windows Communication Foundation 
90 minutes - Posted October, 2005
This lab demonstrates how to build a Windows Communication Foundation service and client, and how easily those services can be modified. You’ll host the service first in a .NET console application and then in IIS, and also secure the communication between the client and service.

A Server Scenario Lab with Windows Communication Foundation 
90 minutes - Posted April, 2007
In this lab you will learn about the unified programming model provided by Windows Communication Foundation for building distributed applications. Additionally, you will be introduced to the powerful tracing, monitoring and management features built into Windows Communication Foundation. And finally, you will have the ability to easily apply turnkey security and utilize multiple transports and hosts.

Reliable and Transacted Messaging with the Windows Communication Foundation  
90 minutes - Posted October, 2005
This lab demonstrates the Windows Communication Foundation’s facilities for managing state within a service, and how you can use it to enable reliable, queued, and transacted messaging in your application.

Syndication using Windows Communications Foundation 
90 minutes - Posted April, 2008
In this lab, you will explore the new features of Windows Communications Foundation (WCF) as you expose and consume both RSS and ATOM syndication feeds.

Building AJAX/JSON Services using WCF 
90 minutes - Posted April, 2008
After completing this lab, you will be better able to create and configure a WCF service that uses JSON serialization, consume the WCF service from client-side code, including ASP.NET AJAX controls and JavaScript that you write.

Windows Communication Foundation and REST
90 minutes - Posted April, 2008
This lab will serve as an introduction to creating Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) services. It will also illustrate how a WCF service can easily be adopted to meet the ever-changing needs of service-based software by adapting the service we create to use REST.

Integrating Windows Communication Foundation and Windows Workflow Foundation 
90 minutes - Posted April, 2008
The purpose of this lab is to illustrate how Workflow Foundation (WF) workflows can interoperate with Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) services using Visual Studio 2008. As we progress through this lab, we will also have an opportunity to examine new language features in Visual Basic and productivity features in Visual Studio 2008. With the release of Visual Studio 2008 comes new functionality that enables Windows Workflow Foundation (WWF) and WCF to interoperate seamlessly together. This lab has been built in Visual Basic and will also serve as an introduction into some of the language’s new features.

WCF Instructor-led Training

Official Microsoft Learning
Reach your goal through interactive and comprehensive, expert-taught training in a classroom or online.

Developmentor
Windows Workflow Foundation for C# developers

Pluralsight
Double Feature: WCF and Workflow

WCF Pages