MSDN Documentation

Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) Basics

Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) is a framework for building service‑oriented applications. In .NET Framework 3.5, WCF introduces several enhancements, including simplified configuration, support for RESTful services, and better integration with ASP.NET.

Key Concepts

• Service Contract – Defines the operations a service exposes.
• Data Contract – Describes the data types used in messages.
• Binding – Specifies how to communicate (protocol, encoding, transport).
• Endpoint – Combination of address, binding, and contract.
• Hosting – Where the service runs (IIS, WAS, self‑hosted).

Creating a Simple Service

The following example demonstrates a basic WCF service that returns a greeting.

// Service contract
[ServiceContract]
public interface IGreetingService
{
    [OperationContract]
    string GetGreeting(string name);
}

// Service implementation
public class GreetingService : IGreetingService
{
    public string GetGreeting(string name)
    {
        return $"Hello, {name}!";
    }
}
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Configuring the Service (app.config)

<system.serviceModel>
  <services>
    <service name="GreetingService">
      <endpoint address="" binding="basicHttpBinding" contract="IGreetingService"/>
      <host>
        <baseAddresses>
          <add baseAddress="http://localhost:8080/GreetingService"/>
        </baseAddresses>
      </host>
    </service>
  </services>
</system.serviceModel>
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Consuming the Service (Client)

ChannelFactory<IGreetingService> factory = 
    new ChannelFactory<IGreetingService>(new BasicHttpBinding(),
    new EndpointAddress("http://localhost:8080/GreetingService"));
IGreetingService proxy = factory.CreateChannel();
Console.WriteLine(proxy.GetGreeting("World"));
((IClientChannel)proxy).Close();
factory.Close();
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Running the Service

To self‑host the service, add the following code to a console application:

using (ServiceHost host = new ServiceHost(typeof(GreetingService)))
{
    host.Open();
    Console.WriteLine("Service is running...");
    Console.ReadLine();
}
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For detailed guidance, explore the linked sections in the navigation pane.