WCF combines many previous Microsoft messaging technologies together into a standard coding framework. A service is written as a logical piece of work and is then exposed using whichever method is most appropriate. This keeps the service logic and the technical transportation pieces of the service separate and reduces the complexity. Why WCF Interoperability & Integration: It allows you to connect to other technologies such as Message Queues and other technologies to connect to it. Whole bunch of WS-* protocols are supported Unified Programming model: Whether you use TCP or Http or Pipes. Or transmitting using Messaging Queues, programmers need to learn just one way to program. Previously you had .NET remoting, MSMQ, Web services, COM+ and they were all done differently Productive Programming model: Do not have to worry about all the plumbing work. You want to add logging, no problem. You want to add transaction, no problem. You want to add reliable messaging – no probl...

W3C published the report from the W3C Workshop on Web Tracking and User Privacy held at Princeton University in April. The large and diverse group of participants had an engaging discussion yielding consensus on the importance, time-sensitivity and complexity of the issue and revealing promising areas for standards work. They encourage interested parties to continue discussion on the public mailing list , including on the possibility of W3C forming new groups in this area. Workshop sponsors: Adobe, Yahoo!, Google, Mozilla and Microsoft.

The Web Performance Working Group has published the First Public Working Draft of Resource Timing. This specification defines an interface for web applications to access timing information related to HTML elements. User latency is an important quality benchmark for Web Applications. While JavaScript-based mechanisms can provide comprehensive instrumentation for user latency measurements within an application, in many cases, they are unable to provide a complete end-to-end latency picture. While the Navigation Timing specification address part of the problem by providing timing information associated with a navigation, this document introduces the ResourceTiming interface to allow Javascript mechanisms to collect complete timing information related to resources on a document. Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity .

The Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) Working Group has published a Working Draft of CSS Lists and Counters Module Level 3. This draft contains the features of CSS level 3 relating to list styling. The main extensions compared to CSS Level 2 are a pseudo-element representing the list marker, a new hanging value for list-style-position, and a method for authors to define their own list-styles. Learn more about the Style Activity.

The Rule Interchange Format Working Group has published a Group Note of RIF In RDF. This document specifies a reversible mapping (or transformation) from Rule Interchange Format (RIF) XML documents to Resource Description Framework (RDF) graphs. This mapping allows the contents of RIF documents to be interoperably stored and processed as RDF triples, using existing serializations and tools for RDF. When used with the standard mapping from RDF triples to RIF frames, this also provides a "reflection" or "introspection" mechanism, an interoperable way for RIF rules to operate on RIF documents. Learn more about the Semantic Web Activity .

The Points of Interest Working Group has published the First Public Working Draft of Points of Interest Core. In general terms, a "point of interest" is a location about which information is available. A POI can be as simple as a set of coordinates and an identifier, or more complex such as a three dimensional model of a building with names in various languages, information about open and closed hours, and a civic address. POI data has many uses including augmented reality browsers, location-based social networking games, geocaching, mapping, and navigation systems. This document describes a generic data model and one normative format. This format is based on XML and is likely insufficient to cover all POI use cases, therefore, it is expected that the data model will be mapped to other formats, such as JSON, GML, RDF, GeoRSS, or HTML. Learn more about the Ubiquitous Web Applications Activity .

The RDF Web Applications Working Group has published the First Public Working Draft of the RDF Interfaces specification. The goal of the RDF Interfaces specification is to provide a common development environment for Web Applications that utilize structured data and RDF. It provides interfaces for creating and managing RDF Triples, Graphs, and Parsers. It also provides the basic building blocks for the upcoming RDF API and the recently published RDFa API. While RDF support is a priority, support for Microdata and Microformats are also provided through extensible-by-design interfaces for parsers and Graph storage. Since this is a First Public Working Draft, the document is expected to change over the coming months. For more information about the Semantic Web, please see the Semantic Web Activity .

W3C today launched a new Web Real-Time Communications Working Group to define client-side APIs to enable Real-Time Communications in Web browsers. These APIs should enable building applications that can be run inside a browser, requiring no extra downloads or plugins, that allow communication between parties using audio, video and supplementary real-time communication, without having to use intervening servers. Read the full charter and learn more about W3C's Ubiquitous Web Applications Activity .

The Web Events Working Group has published the First Public Working Draft of Touch Events Specification. The Touch Interface specification defines a set of low-level events that represent one or more points of contact with a touch-sensitive surface, and changes of those points with respect to the surface and any DOM elements displayed upon it (e.g., for touch screens) or associated with it (e.g., for drawing tablets without displays). It also addresses pen-tablet devices, such as drawing tablets, with consideration toward stylus capabilities. Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity .

W3C is pleased to announce its latest online training course: Introduction to Mobile Web and Application Best Practices . This course includes a lot of new material concerning Web applications. Delivered over 8 weeks, the course will help Web designers and content producers to become familiar with the Web as delivered on mobile devices. It is based entirely on W3C standards, particularly the Mobile Web Best Practices and Mobile Web Application Best Practices. Participants will learn in particular about which versions of HTML and CSS to use for mobile today, client-side and server-side content adaptation techniques, and exciting new APIs available on modern mobile platforms. The full price for the new course is €195 but there are two early bird periods. From now until Friday 6 May you can enroll for just €95. The second early bird period runs until Friday 27th May at €145. See full details of the course and register now.