In Windows Communication Foundation, the System.ServiceModel namespace is used to model and develop the service application and how it communicates. This namespace provides a large number of classes that allow developers to be flexible with respect to how their service will be developed. From the outset, a developer can model the service to communicate a certain way, for instance, using the service model. Some time later, the requirements may change and the need to modify how the service communicates may necessitate changes and modifications. The service model provided via the System.ServiceModel namespace provides this flexibility. It is a full-featured service-oriented infrastructure.
The following table lists some of the more commonly used classes used to model and build your service.
| Class | Description |
|---|---|
| BasicHTTPBinding | The binding that service endpoints can use to communicate with clients and web services (ASMX). |
| NetMsmqBinding | The binding that service endpoints can use to communicate with MSMQ clients and other services. |
| NetNamedPipeBinding | The secure binding that service endpoints can use to communicate with clients/services on the same machine. |
| NetTCPBinding | The secure binding that service endpoints can use to communicate with clients/services across machines. |
| WSHTTPBinding | The binding that service endpoints can use to communicate with clients/services using distributed transactions and secure and reliable sessions. |
| EndpointAddress | The means by which a unique address is provided and accessible to clients for communication with the endpoint. |
| EndpointAddressBuilding | The mechanism in which to create new endpoint addresses with specific property values. |
| ChannelFactory | The mechanism in which different types of channels are created and managed, and made available to clients to send messages to endpoints. |
| Identity | The means by which an identity is specified, enabling authentication between endpoints when messages are exchanged. |
| MessageHeader | Represents the contents of a SOAP message header. |
| ServiceHost | The mechanism by which a host is provided for services. |
| ReliableSession | Provides access to the properties of a reliable session binding element. This is only available when using one of the predefined bindings. |
Obviously there are many more classes, and you may have your own “commonly used” list. For example, there are all the security classes such as BasicHTTPSecurity, which is used to configure security settings for the BasicHTTPBinding. This list, however, is to provide you with a base foundation of the classes you might choose to have in your “WCF Utility Belt.”