I am implementing a quite simple state-machine order processing application. It is a e-commerce application with a few twists. The users of the application will not be editing workflows by themselves.
Microsoft claims that asp.net and Windows Workflow is possible to combine. How hard is it to install and maintain a combination of asp.net and Windows Workflow? I would be keeping the workflow state in sql-server.
Is it easier for me to roll my own state machine code or is Windows Workflow the right tool for the job?
Asp.net and WF get along just fine, and WF doesn’t add much maintenance overhead.
Whether or not this is the right design for you depends a lot on your needs. If you have a lot of event driven actions then WF might be worthwhile, otherwise the overhead of rolling your own tracking would probably add less complexity to the system.
WF is reasonably easy to work with so I’d suggest working up a prototype and experimenting with it.
Also, in my opinion, based on your requirements, I doubt WF would be the right solution for you.