If you have a computer programming interview scheduled, it would be wise to prepare for questions on the Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) programming model. It’s a common model, and you will likely be asked about it.
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In this article, we examine some of the top WCF interview questions and answers to review before your interview.
Why you should study WCF interview questions
WCF uses interoperable and distributed applications. There are a variety of jobs that use WCF routinely, including computer programmers, software developers, .NET developers, application programmers and back-end architects.
Studying the top WCF interview questions and answers could help you prepare for your interview. When you give quick and poised answers, the interviewer can sense your confidence. You should consider studying a variety of basic, intermediate and advanced questions so you can answer any questions an interviewer asks you.
Best WCF interview questions and answers
Here are some of the top questions and answers to review for a WCF programming interview:
1. What is WCF?
The WCF portion of your interview may start out with this question since your answer can show how much experience you have on this topic. You can start with a brief description of what WCF is and how you would use it. You could also consider giving an example of when you have used it in the past.
Example: “WCF stands for Windows Communication Foundation. This is a platform used for expanding services among numerous endpoints in Windows and creating distributed businesses. Service-oriented applications are built with WCF to help implement interoperability. I have used this with Windows and Linux clients in the past to create applications.”
2. Why should a company use WCF?
Your answer should reflect your comprehension of the advantages WCF provides in the workplace to show the interviewer you know when to use it at your job. You can give several different examples so they know you understand why you would use it over other platforms.
Example: “There are many advantages to using WCF in a company. One of the most helpful is a web service that lets people exchange messages in an XML format while they use the HTTP protocol. WCF is also a secure service that can process business transactions. Also, this platform has a chat service to let two coworkers exchange data or talk online. This saves time by allowing people to stay in the program to discuss an issue. For example, I can send a quick message through the system to ask a coworker a question instead of walking across the building to ask them in person.”
3. What is the difference between web services and WCF?
Web services and WCF serve different purposes, so your answer can show that you recognize when to use which framework at your job and what advantages each one has. You might list the basic definition of both and what the difference is between them.
Example: “WCF is designed to build applications that are service-oriented and send data in the form of asynchronous messages from one type of service endpoint to the other. A web service is an application location that you access through regular web protocols. One of these is SOAP, or the Simple Object Access Protocol, which uses HTTP and XML to encode and send application data. I used this at my prior job to allow users to search for certain types of restaurants within a specific radius.”
4. What is SOA?
SOA is a common type of architecture found in WCF that allows two applications that are not compatible to communicate in the same language. You may want to state what the definition is for this and why you would want to use it.
Example: “SOA stands for service-oriented architecture. This is a type of software development architectural strategy where an application is labeled as ‘services.’ Services are groups of methods that include the business logic necessary to connect a database or other type of service. It is vital that services are self-contained and can define themselves and describe what they do. The client needs to know what operations it can do, the type of value it returns and all the data types it uses.”
5. What does a service contract mean in WCF?
WCF frequently uses service contracts, so you could give examples of why you would use one and what to include in a service contract. This is an important feature that you will use in WCF to complete services within the application.
Example: “A service contract is how the service’s requirements and capabilities are defined for the consumers. This establishes when users will perform the operations of a service by enhancing the class or interface with the service contract attribute. Methods in the interface must be included in the contract with the operation contract attribute. A service contract also explains operation locations, message data types, and what protocols a client needs to talk to the server. I have used this in the past to specify what operation a service helps with.”
6. What are endpoints?
Endpoints help complete an application, so you can consider explaining when you would use endpoints in your work and discuss common types of endpoints you may use.
Example: “Endpoints give the correct configuration and assist in completing a WCF application. This defines how you transfer data between two different points. The three main parts of endpoints include binding, address and contract. The binding is in charge of how clients communicate with endpoints, the address identifies every endpoint and the contract defines what operations are available. In my past job, I commonly programmed endpoints so data transferred securely.”
7. What is a data contract?
A data contract describes how the program exchanges data between a service and a client, so you could state the definition and give examples of what it defines. You may want to show your knowledge of data contracts to demonstrate that you understand specific situations where you would use them.
Example: “A data contract is an official agreement between a client and a service that explains how data is exchanged. This can be implicit, such as simple type, or explicit, such as user-defined objects where the data contract must be defined with data member and data contract attributes. Data contract defines the external format of data that goes to and from service operations, maps a CLR type to the XML Schema, and describes the types of data and structure interchanged in service messages. In the past, I programmed data contracts to get information on customer locations and ages.”
I hope you find this article helpful.
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