Programming WCF Services

Programmatic Versus Administrative Configuration

The two techniques shown so far for configuring both the client and service complement each other. Administrative configuration gives you the option to change major aspects of the service and the client post-deployment, without even the need to rebuild or redeploy. The major downside of administrative configuration is that it is not type-safe, and configuration errors will only be discovered at runtime.

Programmatic configuration is useful when the configuration decision is either completely dynamic—when it is taken at runtime based on the current input or conditions—or when the decision is static and never changes, in which case you might as well hardcode it. For example, if you are interested in hosting in-proc calls only, you might as well hardcode the use of the NetNamedPipeBinding and its configuration. However, by and large, most clients and services do resort to using a config file.