Understanding the foundation technologies of .Net 3.0

Since .Net version 1.0 there were lots of improvements going on and now with the .Net version 3.0 you can find a lot of improvement in the technological aspects too. In 2000 Microsoft released .NET 1.1, and it was a framework of classes to address following:

1. The language interoperability
2. Easy memory management
3. Object oriented framework

It convinced the many developers, especially with previous experience in java. They found Microsoft .NET easy for learning compared to MFC framework.

Resent release of .NET 3.0 is tied with Vista release, and the development tools for this release of framework are expected in 2007.

What are the Features of .NET 3.0?

.NET 3.0 improves the technological aspect of previous releases of .NET. The new framework contains following foundation technologies.

1. Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF)
2. Windows Communication Foundation (WCF)
3. Windows Workflow Foundation (WWF)
4. Windows CardSpace (WCS)

Windows Presentation Foundation

This is the one of the most familiar foundation among the four, because it provides interfaces for developing GUI. This is entirely a new way of programming for GUI. Using this foundation class programs can be developed for Desktop, Web, and mobile platforms.

In .NET 3.0 the GUI is defined using a XML language called XAML(Extensible Application Markup Language) pronounced like Zammel, that defines the layout of controls and defines the data binding. In a way, it separates the code and layout of controls, similar to ASP.NET 2.0 web page technology.

A sample XAML definition for Window with a button is given below.
<Window x:Class="SampleCS.Window1"
xmlns="ttp://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"xmlns:x=
"http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
Title="SampleCS">
<StackPanel>
<Button>Click Me</Button>
</StackPanel>
</Window>

Windows Communication Foundation (WCF)

This is another foundation library used for designing and developing application with communication between applications as a main goal. The communication can happen between the processes of same computer or two different computers in local network or internet.

This foundation is designed in accordance with the principle of service oriented architecture. WCF implements many advanced web services standards, like WS-Addressing, WS-Reliability, and WS-Security. It is basically a service and clients can consume those services over network. The service and client can be hosted in different OS platforms.

Windows workflow foundation (WWF)

It is technology for defining, executing, and managing workflows. Workflow is like a process mapping and definition. The sample application which implements WWF is sharepoint portal.

Visual studio 2005, the developer can design, implement, and test WWF workflows.

Windows card space (WCS)

The new Windows card space technology, is step towards better way of authenticating people, previously it was done using a username and password mechanism with the help of services like Active directory, Passport, and Windows membership.

Using this new technology, any user can create and share his identity. Microsoft implemented this solution in such a way that it can easily integrate with solutions from other company. For example a PHP solution can integrate card space technology with less than 200 lines of code.

These foundations technologies are based on the .NeT 2.0, and provide new interfaces for software development. From the name itself, it is understood each foundation technologies are designed to use with specific tasks.