How Can You Learn WCF?

When I present at conferences and consult at clients I often get asked “How can I learn WCF?” It’s a great question because WCF in itself is a beast (as is WPF and Silverlight, etc).

When I first started with WCF I tried learning via Internet tutorials, browsing the MSDN, looking at magazines, etc. While some of the articles did help I never really grasped the concept of what WCF was presenting until I picked up a couple of books. At that point it hit home (literally within an hour of reading Learning WCF).

Book Complexity

The books below are listed IN ORDER because if you read them in that order they will make more sense. Michele Bustamante’s book leans more towards the “WCF Newbie” while Juval Lowy’s book tends towards the user that has some SOA experience already and is looking to ramp up on WCF. But Lowy’s book also goes into more detail at time which is why its also handy to have on your shelf even if you area a beginner. Example: At times Bustamante’s book will cover a topic but if you need more on it, crack open Lowy’s.

Please Note Though: Lowy does not cover Integrated MSMQ and Federated Security. If you’re looking for that, look at Bustamante’s book. Bustamate has about 15 pages on Federated Security. But she only has 1 page on Integrated MSMQ.

If you’re still wondering what book to buy, here’s the complexity chart as a I see it. (IMO) Hopefully this picture speaks 1000 words.

Here are the actual books and the links to Amazon if you want to read the reviews and what not.

While this may be my own best method for learning WCF – I have recommended it to a couple colleagues and they’ve had good results so it must have some validity. (I hope.) 🙂

Good luck!