This is the last planned article in a documentation series covering various aspects of Windows Communication Foundation transports. Today's topic covers how to choose a transport and associated encoder. Choosing a Transport The Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) programming model separates the behavior of endpoint operations from the transport mechanism that connects two endpoints. This gives you flexibility when deciding how your services should be exposed to the network. Transports and message encoders are pieces of WCF that sit below a service to provide connectivity. This document discusses some of the characteristics you need to evaluate when choosing a transport and message encoding. In scenarios where you must connect to a preexisting client or server, you may not have a choice about using a particular transport and message encoding. However, WCF services can be made accessible through multiple endpoints, each with a different transport or message encoding. When a single selection does not cover the entire intended audience for your service, you should consider exposing your service over multiple endpoints. Client applications can then choose the endpoint that is most favorable for them. Using multiple endpoints allows you to combine the advantages of different transports and message encoders. Transports and Message Encoders In WCF, the transfer of data across a network requires the joint cooperation of a transport and message encoder. A message encoder converts a System.ServiceModel.Channels.Message to a serialized form. This document covers the Text, Binary, and MTOM message encoders that are included in WCF. The text message encoder supports both a plain XML encoding as well as SOAP encodings. The plain XML encoding mode of the text message encoder is called the POX encoder to distinguish it from the text-based SOAP encoding. A transport sends the serialized form of the message to another application. This document covers the HTTP, TCP, and named pipe transports that are included in WCF. WCF provides several standard bindings that combine a transport, message encoder, and other options. For instance, the BasicHttpBinding binding combines the HTTP transport with a text message encoder. Similarly, the NetTcpBinding binding combines the TCP transports with a binary message encoder. You are not limited to choosing a preset combination given by a standard binding. Decision Points for Choosing a Transport The following table describes several decision
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