Using with RIA and WCF without RIA, which one is suggested ?

Question

what is the advantages/disadvantages of using RIA against WCF without RIA?

Answer 1

The only disadvantages I can see are:

• You introduce a new dependency on your project.
• The learning curve.
• It's still a beta.

That is, the usuarl disadvantages on using a third-party library.

As for the advantages, I recommend to install it and taking a look at the documentation of the library itself.

Answer 2

Advantages:

• Validation; you write validation once, and it works on both client and server sides
• Simplified code; WCF is encapsulated, so you call RIA-based services synchronously, don't have to build proxies, etc.
• Tight integration with data controls

Disadvantages:

• Lots of generated code in your projects
• XAML markup can get very dense, even for simple stuff
• (as of the CTP; haven't started working with the beta yet) no integration with Blend

RIA services is still a "work in progress" so it's too early to tell just how it will play out. I'm looking forward to playing with it a lot over the Christmas holidays.