Programming WCF Web Services for .NET:
A Comprehensive Hands-On Introduction

What is this course about?

In this course, you learn how to make effective use of Web services in .NET. You'll employ five distinct Web service frameworks that are supported with versions 2.0 to 4 of .NET, and find out where each can be best applied. You also learn to employ the tools provided by Visual Studio to integrate Web services into a wide variety of client applications.

What are .NET Web services?

Web services provide a key technology to allow developers to expose application functionality over intranets and the Internet in a standards-based and platform neutral manner. In .NET, Microsoft has created a series of distinct frameworks that enable developers to create Web services.

Originally, Microsoft created ASMX Web services for use in .NET 1.0 and 2.0. With .NET 3.0, Microsoft released Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) services as a replacement for ASMX Web services. Three additional frameworks were added with the release of .NET 4.0: WCF Rich Internet Application (RIA) services, WCF Data services and Workflow services.

Which Web service frameworks are covered in this course?

The frameworks covered in the course include: ASMX Web services for .NET 2.0, WCF Web services for .NET 3.0 - 4, and WCF Data services, WCF RIA services, and Workflow services for .NET 4.

Who will benefit from this course?

This course is designed for developers, analysts, and architects who want to learn how to create Web services with .NET, and for system administrators who need to manage a .NET Web services infrastructure.

I use Visual Studio .NET 2003. Will this course be valuable to me?

Yes. This course covers how to create ASMX Web services, which are the Web services that can be created with VS .NET 2003.

Which version of Visual Studio is used in this course?

Visual Studio 2010, the principal integrated environment for creating .NET applications, is used in this course.

What background do I need?

Experience with .NET programming in either Visual Basic or C# is assumed, to the level of Course 503, Visual Basic Programming for .NET: Hands-On, or Course 419, C# Programming: Hands-On.

For example, you should know how to:

• Write classes containing methods and properties
• Design and implement programmatic interfaces
• Employ data access in .NET using ADO.NET
• Craft user interfaces for Web or Windows applications with ASP.NET, Windows Forms, or WPF

I use an earlier version on Visual Studio. Will this course be valuable for me?

Yes. While this course uses Visual Studio 2010, the coding techniques used will be applicable to earlier versions of Visual Studio.

What are ASMX Web services and how are they covered in this course?

ASMX services are the original Web services that Microsoft created for .NET 1.0 and 2.0, and are supported in .NET 4. You will create an ASMX service in this course and invoke its functionality from client applications.

What are WCF Web services and how are they covered in this course?

WCF services are the replacement for ASMX services and .NET remoting that Microsoft created for .NET 3.0 and later. You will create WCF services in this course, make use of several advanced WCF features, and call WCF services from client applications.

Does this course teach me to write Web services that work for Java clients?

Yes. This course includes the creation of ASMX and WCF Web services that conform to the Web Services Interoperability standard, Web Service Basic Profile 1.1. This standard is widely supported by Java frameworks, including Apache Axis and Spring.

How much time is spent on each topic?

How much of the course is hands-on?

Approximately 50 percent of class time is spent doing hands-on exercises. You gain valuable experience developing Web services with .NET. Exercises include:

• Coding ASMX services and clients
• Building interoperable and performant WCF services
• Locating serviced dynamically with discovery
• Connecting WPF, Silverlight, ASP.NET and Ajax clients to .NET services
• Mapping long-running business processes to services with WF
• Deploying and managing services with Windows Server AppFabric

I need to create Web services that support Rich Internet Applications (RIA) written in Silverlight. Will this course help me do that?

Yes. This course covers the creation WCF RIA Web services, which are specifically designed to address this scenario.

I need to create Web services that support client applications that use Microsoft Ajax Library and JavaScript. Will this course help me do that?

Yes. This course covers the creation WCF Data services (formerly known as ADO.NET Data Services), which provide excellent support for the creation of REST-based services.

I have to create Web services that orchestrate a long-running business process. Is this covered in the course?

Yes. You will create Workflow services with .NET 4, where the service implementation is a workflow, designed to support coordinated work that may take place over days, weeks, or months.

Is database technology covered in this course?

Yes, this course makes use of several SQL Server databases as the persistence layer for .NET Web services. You will also use the new features of the .NET Entity Framework in .NET 4 that make it a suitable data access technology for Web service applications.

How does this course relate to other Learning Tree courses?

Other courses that may be of interest include:

• 424, Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA): A Comprehensive Hands-On Introduction , provides the skills necessary to design, model and implement a SOA.
• 2602, Windows® AzureTM Platform Introduction: Programming Cloud-Based Applications , provides the skills to build scalable, fault-tolerant and secure cloud-based applications.
• 506, Building Web Applications with ASP.NET and Ajax: Hands-On , shows you how to create a multitier Web site using Visual Studio and .NET.
• 975, Windows® Presentation Foundation (WPF) and Silverlight Introduction: Hands-On , covers how to build WPF user interfaces with Visual Studio, XAML and a .NET programming language.
• 2615, Programming SharePoint® 2010 Applications with .NET: Hands-On , provides you with the knowledge and skills to build custom SharePoint applications and simplify application development.
• 973, Programming C# Extended Features: Hands-On ,you learn how to streamline data-centric applications with C# extended features.