Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) enables applications to communicate whether they are on the same computer, across the Internet, or on different application platforms. This topic outlines the tasks that are required to build a WCF application. For a working sample application, see Getting Started Tutorial.
The Basic Tasks
The basic tasks to perform are, in order:
Define the service contract. A service contract specifies the signature of a service, the data it exchanges, and other contractually required data. For more information, see Designing Service Contracts.
Implement the contract. To implement a service contract, create a class that implements the contract and specify custom behaviors that the runtime should have. For more information, see Implementing Service Contracts.
Configure the service by specifying endpoints and other behavior information. For more information, see Configuring Services.
Build a client application. For more information, see Building Clients.
Although the topics in this section follow this order, some scenarios do not start at the beginning. For example, if you want to build a client for a pre-existing service, you start at step 5. Or if you are building a service that others will use, you may skip step 5.
Once you are familiar with developing service contracts, you can also read Introduction to Extensibility. If you have problems with your service, check WCF Troubleshooting Quickstart to see whether others have the same or similar problems.
Microservice applications are composed of small, independently versioned, and scalable customer-focused services that communicate with each other by using standard protocols and well-defined interfaces. Each microservice typically encapsulates simple business logic, which you can scale out or in. You test, deploy, and manage the microservice independently. Smaller teams develop a microservice based on a customer scenario, and choose the technologies that they use. This module teaches you how to build your f