Create REST Service using WCF

Introduction

REST stands for Representational State Transfer. Central components are resources and actions which can affect those resources. This article is the same as my original post here.

REST Actions

GET:      GET is used exclusively to retrieve data.
DELETE:   DELETE is used for deleting resources.
PUT:      PUT is used to add or change a resource.
POST:     POST is Used to modify and update a resource 

WCF & REST

In WCF, the most important elements of a REST application include the [WebGet] and [WebInvoke] attributes and the new binding webHttpBinding in connection with the webHttp endpoint behavior.

WebHttpBehavior class or the endpoint behavior also enables you to choose from two different serialization formats: 

• POX (Plain old XML) uses XML alone without the SOAP overhead.
• JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) is a very compact and efficient format, primarily in connection with JavaScript.

Demo

The following examples show how [WebGet] and [WebInvoke] are used.

STEP 1: Define Data Contract

[DataContract]
public class Student
{
    [DataMember]
    public string StudentName { get; set; }
    [DataMember]
    public int Age { get; set; }
    [DataMember]
    public double Mark { get; set; }
} 

Step 2: Define Service Contract

[ServiceContract]
public interface IStudentService
{
    [OperationContract]
    [WebGet(UriTemplate = "/GetStudentObj")]
    Student GetStudent();
        
    [OperationContract]
    [WebInvoke(UriTemplate = "/DeleteStudent/{studentName}",
    Method = "DELETE")]
    void DeleteStudent(string studentName);
} 

Step 3: Implement Service Contract

public class StudentService : 
            IStudentService
{
    public Student GetStudent()
    {
        Student stdObj = new Student { 
                    StudentName = "Foo", 
                    Age = 29, 
                    Mark = 95 };
        return stdObj;
    }

    void DeleteStudent(string studentName)
    {
        // delete logic
    }
} 

Step 4: Use webHttpBinding (change default http port mapping to webHttpBinding)  

<system.serviceModel>
	<protocolMapping>
		<add scheme="http" binding="webHttpBinding"/>
	</protocolMapping>
	<behaviors>

<system.serviceModel>

Step 5: Specify webHttp End Point Behaviors

<system.serviceModel>
    -----
    </protocolMapping>
    <behaviors>
        <endpointBehaviors>
            <behavior>
                <webHttp />
            </behavior >
        </endpointBehaviors>
    <behaviors>
	------
<system.serviceModel> 

Step 6: Test the Service 

http://localhost/StudentService.svc/GetStudentObj      
http://localhost/StudentService.svc/DeleteStudent/foo 

Conclusion

This tutorial was created to help you understand the WCF REST services. I hope you have found this tutorial helpful and interesting.