Here are some thoughts on WF (as of beta 2.2, obviously there is time to improve on the cons).
Pros: - Definitely meets the design goals. It's great for managing long running business processes that can change frequently. The state machine workflows work well when a process requires a lot of human decision-making. - The rules engine can execute prioritized rules and uses forward chaining. Rules can be kept separate from the workflow definition (in a file, in a database, etc.), which is good for "the rules change every day" scenarios. - You can easily build a domain specific language by creating custom activities. Cons: - The designer has some annoying bugs and sometimes feels clunky and unpolished. - Documentation is still very sparse (but there is good support in the forums). - The story around hosting the runtime in ASP.NET is still muddy, and can be a downright pain, depending on what your workflows do. The word is that the two teams are working to improve the situation. The next release should be a little better [1], but I think there should be a lot more there. - Some behaviors are surprising and will bite you at least once (spawned contexts [2], for one). [1] http://blogs.msdn.com/pandrew/archive/2006/04/28/586181.aspx [2] http://blogs.msdn.com/advancedworkflow/archive/2006/03/21/557121.aspx A couple workflow articles I'm partial to are: Hello, Workflow (http://odetocode.com/Articles/447.aspx) The WF Base Activity Library (http://odetocode.com/Articles/455.aspx) :) --s > -----Original Message----- > From: Discussion of advanced .NET topics. [mailto:ADVANCED- > [EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Paul Cowan > Sent: Wednesday, June 21, 2006 12:21 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [ADVANCED-DOTNET] Workflow Engine > > Hi all, > > Does anyone know of a good opensource Workflow engine written in C#, > obviously there are aplenty in Java?I know there is the Windows Workflow > Foundation Beta 2 and I am tempted to use this. Has anyone any experience > of using this?? > > Thanks > Paul > =================================== > This list is hosted by DevelopMentorR http://www.develop.com > > View archives and manage your subscription(s) at > http://discuss.develop.com =================================== This list is hosted by DevelopMentor® http://www.develop.com View archives and manage your subscription(s) at http://discuss.develop.com
