I have received several inquiries from developers asking about how Linxter is different from Microsoft’s Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) and Microsoft's BizTalk Services offering. The answer really comes down to your needs, resources, and the age old issue of to build or not to build.

With WCF, you could build your own messaging system, if you have the time, expertise, and desire to build and maintain such a system (both the code and physical infrastructure). BizTalk Services provides you with a hosted Internet Service Bus, however, you still need to dedicate resources to learn WCF and develop your solution. Just this morning I found this blog entry from Simon Segal who brings up the issue of where to invest his time. I also enjoyed this insightful interview of Juval Lowy regarding WCF, Microsoft’s Regional Director for Silicon Valley, in which he cited research that concluded developers spend roughly 5% of their time writing the business logic of their program, and the other 95% on what he called communication “plumbing”. Juval suggests that WCF takes on the issues of the communication plumbing, but also stated that to use WCF is essentially like learning another development platform, at least as grand as the .NET platform in scope.

The Linxter SDK eliminates the learning curve needed to utilize the benefits offered by WCF. Through a series of simple method calls, without having to learn a new development platform, developers can utilize secure and reliable messaging. Linxter takes care of the communication “plumbing” while providing additional security and management features.

Whether you choose to build your own depends on your needs, domain expertise, business focus, and resources. Linxter and WCF are both great solutions to communication plumbing issues. If you desire to build your own, you should investigate WCF (and BizTalk Services). If your focus is on the products and services you are bringing to market, Linxter is for you.