c# - Why does WCF return myObject[] instead of List<T> like I was expecting?

Question

I am returning a List from my WCF method. In my client code, it's return type shows as MyObject[]. I have to either use MyObject[], or IList, or IEnumerable...

WCFClient myClient = new WCFClient();

    MyObject[] list = myClient.GetMyStuff();
or
    IList<MyObject> list = myClient.GetMyStuff();
or
    IEnumerable<MyObject> list = myClient.GetMyStuff();

All I am doing is taking this collection and binding it to a grid. What is the best object to assign my returned collection?

Answer 1

You can specify that you want to use a generic list instead of an array by clicking the advanced button when you add a reference, or you can right click on the service reference and choose configure to change it in place.

The reason is that WCF serializes Generic lists as arrays to send across the wire. The configuration is just telling svcutil to create a proxy that converts them back to a generic list for your convenience.