Infosys | Microsoft

1.WF (Windows Workflow Foundation)

2.WCF (Windows Communication Foundation)

3.WPF (Windows Presentation Foundation)

4.WCS (Windows CardSpace)

   I know, many might not agree with this list. But my reasoning (or prejudice!) behind it is, is given below.

   I completely accept the fact that workflow concept is not a trail-blazing technology and it has been here for quite a while, in various other forms. But MS has brought this concept into main stream of development community and let any windows application implement the workflow logic efficiently. If we observe, all processes (IT or non IT) revolve around the workflow logic. In fact, so far, we have been implementing this workflow based logic in more procedural or object oriented way. To be more precise, we bundle the individual pieces of workflow logic (sequence, branching, conditions and business rules) together and hide them within a procedural body. Optimized utilization of CPU cycles and memory resource may be the reasons for doing so. Now, bringing back workflow logic into limelight does the reverse processing of disintegrating the procedural logic into more discrete steps, which once got assimilated within procedural logic, of a workflow. The result is more clarity and transparency on internal working of an application.  Everybody would agree that these would lead the applications to better maintainability and to adopt future business changes quickly. Secondly, most of processes involve both system centric and human centric factors. The involvement of human factors into a process converts the static predictable nature of drama into highly dynamic and unpredictable thriller!!!. WF is amazingly flexible and extensible enough to handle such processes. That is why WF is in top of my list.

   The reason for the second slot of WCF is the amount of support it brings in converting a web service to be truly enterprise arsenal through its compliance to mind-boggling number of  ever growing WS-* specifications. No doubt that there is more extensibility and simplicity in WCF, but sort of deja-vu will still linger in the minds of people because of its ASP.NET web service like programming model. That familiarity really breeds contempt and made me put this not in the first slot .

   WPF is great and it will make the UI applications rock and roll if deployed in system that is both high end and Vista compliant (both are one and the same). The user experience would be simply stunning if the application is media-content and graphics rich. MS seems to be on the top of the roof and clearly spells out WPF is not just for such applications alone. There will also be a few takers to its claims. I also agree with MS that even LOB applications require better UI and flexible controls. Personally, I already have experience in dealing with an application that required the great data visualization capability of WPF. And XAML is a good approach to declaratively define UI controls. But I think that business still will wait for some more time in taking decision on UI of its LOB applications, may be till its business layer technological complexities are sorted out. And I will not say developing WPF application is exactly similar to development of Win Form applications. But orcas development tools will make it more so. It is not a bad thing and in fact, people may find it great because they don’t need to unlearn something. But, as in the case of WCF, this familiarity again breeds my contempt and makes me place this lower to WCF.

   It would be highly unfair if I try to say some technological reasons for placing WCS at the lowest rung of the list. It (being last in the list) has nothing to do with technology but has more to do with WCS’s late entry into WinFX fold of technologies. Very few documents are available as of now to raise the enthusiasm among the development community and to know its full scope. The importance and seriousness of the basic fact of utilizing WCS - a meta-identity based technology - to let end users take a control while distributing their identities and credentials to the not so great internet world wherein too many evils lurking in the dark side, could be completely understood by anybody who has his/her teeth into security concepts, but that is not enough to move it ahead in the list .

   Well, it might be too early to list them like this; and more wisdom extracted out of experience with these technologies, in future, may disrupt this order drastically. Who knows!!!!.

   And in future blogs, I will include more entries such as ASP.NET Web Services, .NET Remoting, Windows Form, ASP.NET web pages, Enterprise services, etc (you can either call them as non-WinFX technologies in .NET Fwk 3.0 or as .NET Fwk 2.0 technologies in .NET Fwk 3.0. See the problem that I had mentioned in my earlier blog - To Be Or Not To Be - about this naming confusion ) and let us see where those technologies fit in the ordered list.