WCF RIA Services

Microsoft WCF RIA Services simplifies the traditional n-tier application pattern by bringing together the ASP.NET and Silverlight platforms. RIA Services provides a pattern to write application logic that runs on the mid-tier and controls access to data for queries, changes and custom operations. It also provides end-to-end support for common tasks such as data validation, authentication and roles by integrating with Silverlight components on the client and ASP.NET on the mid-tier.

1. Install WCF RIA Services for Visual Studio 2008 & for Visual Studio 2010 Beta.

   
   

   Silverlight 3: Install WCF RIA Services Beta for Visual Studio 2008 (If you have the Silverlight 3 Tools and Visual Studio 2008 installed you can download it directly ) [Note that if you are not using Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2, you will need to install this HotFix ]

   
   

   

   
   

   Silverlight 4: Install WCF RIA Services Preview for Visual Studio 2010 Beta (If you have the Silverlight 4 Tools and Visual Studio 2010 Beta2 installed you can download it directly)

2. Watch videos on WCF RIA Services

   
   

   Introduction to WCF RIA Services

   This video walks through creating a simple CRUD application with Master/details, validation, paging, and authentication using WCF RIA Services.

   RIA Services support in Visual Studio 2010

   This video shows the new support for RIA Services in Visual Studio 2010 with adding data source and designer support for common RIA Services development tasks to improve productivity.

3. Start Learning WCF RIA Services

   1. MSDN Documentation for WCF RIA Services
   2. Read Brad Abrams 26 part Introduction to WCF RIA Services
   3. Review some Code Samples:
      1. Repository for Unit Testing Sample - Unit Tests on Domain Services (shows the Repository pattern)
      2. XML Metadata Provider - A custom metadata provider that reads metadata from an external XML file
      3. RIA Services Azure - A RIA Services application hosted in the Azure cloud.
      4. Authentication Samples - Custom Auth Service implementations (includes Live ID sample)
      5. More Samples...

4. Engage with others in the WCF RIA Services forum to ask questions and participate in discussions

5. Check out Applications using WCF RIA Services

   1. HR Application
   2. Classifieds Sample
   3. SilverlightStore SEO Sample
   4. Contoso