Why does WCF return myObject[] instead of List 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...

Answer 1

Stever B is correct. WCF tries really hard not to be coupled to .NET. You may want to allow a Java client to connect to your component. Arrays are interoperable. Generic .NET lists aren't.

However, you're more than welcome to create your own proxy class that will convert the array back into a List or anything else that you'd like. The nice thing about manually creating your own proxies is that you're in complete control of what they do.