Hosting in a Managed Application
Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) services can be hosted in any .NET Framework application. Self-hosting services is the most flexible hosting option because it requires the least infrastructure to deploy. However, it is also the least robust hosting option, because managed applications do not provide the advanced hosting and management features of other hosting options in WCF, such as Internet Information Services (IIS) and Windows services.
To create a self-hosted service, create and open an instance of the ServiceHost, which starts a service listening for messages. For more information, see How to: Host a WCF Service in a Managed Application.
For a complete example on how to define a contract, implement the contract, and host a service inside of a managed application see the Getting Started Tutorial and the Self-Host.
The following sections describe common scenarios that use this hosting option.
Console Applications
Common scenarios that self-hosting enables are WCF services running inside console applications. Hosting a WCF service inside a console application is typically useful during the development phase of the service. This makes them easy to debug, easy to get trace information from to find out what is happening inside of the application, and easy to move around by copying them to new locations.
Rich Client Applications
Other common scenarios that self-hosting enables are rich client applications, such as those based on Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) or Windows Forms (WinForms). This hosting option also makes it easy for rich client applications, such as WPF and WinForms applications, to communicate with the outside world. For example, a peer-to-peer collaboration client that uses WPF for its user interface and also hosts a WCF service that allows other clients to connect to it and share information.