Book Image

Applied Architecture Patterns on the Microsoft Platform

Book Image

Applied Architecture Patterns on the Microsoft Platform

Overview of this book

Every day, architects and developers are asked to solve specific business problems in the most efficient way possible using a broad range of technologies. Packed with real-world examples of how to use the latest Microsoft technologies, this book tackles over a dozen specific use case patterns and provides an applied implementation with supporting code downloads for every chapter. In this book, we guide you through thirteen architectural patterns and provide detailed code samples for the following technologies: Windows Server AppFabric, Windows Azure Platform AppFabric, SQL Server (including Integration Services, Service Broker, and StreamInsight), BizTalk Server, Windows Communication Foundation (WCF), and Windows Workflow Foundation (WF). This book brings together – and simplifies – the information and methodology you need to make the right architectural decisions and use a broad range of the Microsoft platform to meet your requirements. Throughout the book, we will follow a consistent architectural decision framework which considers key business, organizational, and technology factors. The book is broken up into four sections. First, we define the techniques and methodologies used to make architectural decisions throughout the book. In Part I, we provide a set of primers designed to get you up to speed with each of the technologies demonstrated in the book. Part II looks at messaging patterns and includes use cases which highlight content-based routing, workflow, publish/subscribe, and distributed messaging. Part III digs into data processing patterns and looks at bulk data processing, complex events, multi-master synchronization, and more. Finally, Part IV covers performance-related patterns including low latency, failover to the cloud, and reference data caching.
Table of Contents (26 chapters)
Applied Architecture Patterns on the Microsoft Platform
Credits
Foreword
About the Authors
About the Reviewer
Preface

Pattern description


Workflows, by definition, are a series of steps that are related to each other. These steps may require interaction with outside resources. Typically, these resources are other systems and the interaction can complete in an automated fashion without any human intervention. In some cases, the workflows require human intervention to fix and correct data, or the workflows are totally related to human processes like a document approval process. When a workflow is related to human activity, it is known as a Human Workflow.

Human workflows can interact with people in several ways. Some of these include SharePoint, e-mail, text messaging, instant messenger, and web forms. What makes human workflows different from non-human workflows is the variability introduced by the human factor. People can be slow to respond, out of town, unwell, or have other factors that prevent them from interacting with the workflow as expected. This adds a degree of uncertainty to all human workflows...