Pro WF: Windows Workflow in .NET 3.0 (Expert's Voice in .Net)

by Apress

$49.99
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Average Rating: * * * * half star
Sales Rank:230465 (lower is better)
Price Used:$10.04
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Label:Apress
Pages:744
Binding:Paperback
Publication Date:2007-02-16
Published By:Apress
ASIN:1590597788
Category:Book

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Editorial Reviews and Product Descriptions

Product Description

Windows Workflow Foundation is a ground-breaking addition to the core of the .NET Framework that allows you to orchestrate human and system interactions as a series of workflows that can be easily mapped, analyzed, adjusted, and implemented.

As business problems become more complex, the need for a workflow-based solution has never been more evident. WF provides a simple and consistent way to model and implement complex problems. As a developer, you focus on developing the business logic for individual workflow tasks. The runtime handles the execution of those tasks after they have been composed into a workflow.

Pro WF: Windows Workflow in .NET 3.0 provides you with the skills you need to incorporate WF in your applications. This book gets you up to speed with Windows Workflow Foundation quickly and comprehensively. The practical aspects of using WF are covered in a lively tutorial style with each workflow concept illustrated in C#. This book also includes detailed coverage of how to customize your workflows and access them in a variety of ways and situations so you can maximize the advantages of this technology.

Customer Reviews

Extremely helpful with web service workflows - Reviewed on 2008-10-11
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1 customer found this review helpful.

I had previously read a lot of online white papers and downloaded and installed samples from the web in trying to learn how to use windows workflow with asp.net and web services. It wasn't until I bought this book and read the chapters on web services and asp.net that it finally clicked. I was able to use to book to create the samples and it all worked. The book really explained everything in detail.

Sections on SQL persistence are invaluable. Also, there are points in the book where he he says "watch out for..." that are worth the price of the book alone.

After I got the samples using web services and asp.net working I started reading the book from the front and got a lot of well written information on how to properly create workflows. Again, there were a lot of "watch out for..." items that proved very helpful.

This is a book you can keep nearby for accurate helpful information.
Excellent book for learning Windows Workflow - Reviewed on 2008-09-21
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2 customers found this review helpful.

Great book for learning Windows Workflow. Just wish he would have provided better examples for the State Machine workflow. Very easy to follow and understand.
Verbose and repetitive - Reviewed on 2008-07-17
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2 customers found this review helpful, 2 did not.

The book has entire paragraphs that need to be stricken; many many paragraphs. Do you know why data integrity is important? Well, you will get lectured why whether you do or not. Sadly, some paragraphs that do contain meat are repeats of points already stated earlier in the same chapter. This made the book very difficult to read as my brain became quickly and thoroughly bored.

Secondly, the author uses some annoying class to setup and start workflows. Although this could be helpful for some organizations it does detract from the learning process.

Lastly, this should be in the Beginning series from Apress. This book did not cover topics in depth. Example: in the custom persistence service there is a box stating that you would normally want to use IPendingWork to make the persist transactional but he wasn't going to show you how; thanks a lot. I found deeper and broader coverage from the WF samples from Microsoft. His decent examples probably border on copyright infringement of the MS samples.

WF Samples:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms741723(VS.85).aspx
Good, not geat - Reviewed on 2008-06-26
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1 customer found this review not to be helpful.
(Note - I struggled between choosing 3 or 4 stars and finally decided on 3. It's really a 3.5 star book.)

Good points:
- Great explanations of concepts
- Tons of code demos

Bad points:
- Code demos were rather, well, cheesy. I grok wanting simple examples, but I would have prefered at least a couple that were a tad realistic (and didn't start with a disclaimer saying "this isn't the way one would do this in real life").

I was rather frustrated by the end of the book with the examples, and that's why I gave it 3 stars.

Having said that, this book does touch on basically every facet of WF and I feel relatively strong on the subject now. I would recommend it to anyone getting into WF. Just note the examples may leave a little to be desired.
Great book on workflow - Reviewed on 2008-06-04
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2 customers found this review helpful, 1 did not.

You need to learn workflow? Get this book. Its the CLR via C# of workflow books.
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