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Book review: Pro WF by Bruce Bukovics

Windows Workflow Foundation, WF for short, is one of the technologies I work a lot with and as a consequence I own several books about WF. Comparing this book with the others I can only say it is one of the best books you can get on the subject. It has a good coverage of almost all the subject you are going to need to know. Not only is there a good coverage but the explanation and examples are very clear. Now there are a few thing missing from the book. As it was written with the .NET framework 3.0 there is no coverage of the WCF integration that comes in the form of the SendActivity and the ReceiveActivity. While this is unfortunate it is also understandable and I can only hope that the author has the time to update the book with one more chapter.

For a book this size, about 700 pages, I was amazed at how little I could find that I didn't like. In fact one of few errors I could find is the statement that only a single instance of the WorkflowRuntime can be created per AppDomain. This is a myth that stems back to the first beta's where it was briefly the case but the restriction has been lifted long ago and has never been part of the released product. But given the size of the book and how few people ever need to create multiple WorkflowRuntime objects it is hardly a big objection.

So my advise: If you are getting into Windows Workflow Foundation make sure you buy this book!

 

Enjoy.

Published Wed, Aug 13 2008 21:16 by Maurice
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Comments

# re: Book review: Pro WF by Bruce Bukovics@ Thursday, August 14, 2008 7:21 AM

I'm glad that you enjoyed my book.  I do indeed have a new .NET 3.5 version of this book that was released in June.  It provides two new chapters (including one on the 3.5 WCF integration features) as well as updates to correct a few errors.  

Yes, it does correct the original beta "myth" that you can only have a single WorkflowRuntime instance in an AppDomain.

Overall, it's over 100 pages longer than this original book.  

Bruce Bukovics

# re: Book review: Pro WF by Bruce Bukovics@ Friday, August 15, 2008 5:12 AM

The .NET 3.0 version deserves the glowing review it received here and the .NET 3.5 version is even better with good updates all the way through. We have both copies on our desks right now.

# re: Book review: Pro WF by Bruce Bukovics@ Friday, August 15, 2008 6:04 AM

@Bruce,

Good to hear that a new version is available. A bit unfortunate that Apress send me the old instead of the new version.

by Maurice

# WF书籍推荐@ Wednesday, August 20, 2008 7:56 PM

1.ProgrammingWindowsWorkflowFoundation

ProgrammingWindowsWorkflowFoundation:PracticalWFTe...

# re: Book review: Pro WF by Bruce Bukovics@ Friday, September 12, 2008 6:07 PM

Sorry Bruce, I really didn't like your book:

www.amazon.com/.../ref=cm_cr_dp_hist_1

by E. Meadows