Are there scenarios where using WCF RIA Serivces is not a good choice?

Question

Because Silverlight 4 , Microsoft recommends using WCF RIA services for business applications. Are there Silverlight scripts where you do not need to use the RIA WCF series, and is it better to use regular WCF services or web services or other methods?

Answer 1

The reality is that RIA WCF services are built on top of WCF. This means that you can easily create an application that (through configuration) provides several endpoints. This way you can use the RIA service endpoints and SOAP endpoints in the same application with the same code base, if you need it.

This way, you can get the easiest way to integrate with your Silverlight application, while other API users can access the data in a way that is convenient for them.

Ultimately, OData is probably your best bet as it is built into RIA Services (just click on the check box!) And it is an open published standard.

Answer 2

Of course, Microsoft is also promoting WCF data services. In this case, the data is displayed in the form of Atom + xml or JSON channels and is available with RESTful HTTP requests that comply with the OData protocol. This is a valid alternative to WCF RIA services. I would recommend using OData in client agnostic scenarios as a general rule. Thus, if in addition to the Silverlight client you would like to create clients on other platforms, such as JavaScript, IPhone, Android or Excel (PowerPivot), then these will be WCF Data Services.

Answer 3

from what I saw and heard that WCF RIA Services is pretty close to Silverlight at the moment. Therefore, if you want to bring business logic from the same service to other clients, then it is probably best to go to standard WCF.

Grz, Kris.