ASP.NET Core API Development

Welcome to the ASP.NET Core API Development section of the MSDN Community. This space is dedicated to helping developers build robust, scalable, and secure web APIs using the latest technologies from Microsoft.

Getting Started with Web APIs

ASP.NET Core provides a powerful and flexible framework for creating HTTP services. Whether you're building a RESTful API, a GraphQL endpoint, or a real-time application with SignalR, ASP.NET Core has you covered.

Key Concepts

RESTful Principles
HTTP Verbs (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE)
Routing and Endpoints
Request and Response Handling
Model Binding and Validation
Content Negotiation
Authentication and Authorization
Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS)

Building Your First API

Let's explore a simple example of creating an API endpoint to manage a list of products.

Example: Product Controller

This C# code snippet demonstrates a basic controller for a Product API.


using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;

[ApiController]
[Route("api/[controller]")]
public class ProductsController : ControllerBase
{
    private static List _products = new List
    {
        new Product { Id = 1, Name = "Laptop", Price = 1200.00M },
        new Product { Id = 2, Name = "Keyboard", Price = 75.50M },
        new Product { Id = 3, Name = "Mouse", Price = 25.00M }
    };

    [HttpGet]
    public ActionResult<IEnumerable<Product>> GetAllProducts()
    {
        return Ok(_products);
    }

    [HttpGet("{id}")]
    public ActionResult<Product> GetProductById(int id)
    {
        var product = _products.FirstOrDefault(p => p.Id == id);
        if (product == null)
        {
            return NotFound();
        }
        return Ok(product);
    }

    [HttpPost]
    public ActionResult<Product> CreateProduct(Product product)
    {
        product.Id = _products.Max(p => p.Id) + 1;
        _products.Add(product);
        return CreatedAtAction(nameof(GetProductById), new { id = product.Id }, product);
    }

    [HttpPut("{id}")]
    public IActionResult UpdateProduct(int id, Product updatedProduct)
    {
        var product = _products.FirstOrDefault(p => p.Id == id);
        if (product == null)
        {
            return NotFound();
        }
        product.Name = updatedProduct.Name;
        product.Price = updatedProduct.Price;
        return NoContent();
    }

    [HttpDelete("{id}")]
    public IActionResult DeleteProduct(int id)
    {
        var product = _products.FirstOrDefault(p => p.Id == id);
        if (product == null)
        {
            return NotFound();
        }
        _products.Remove(product);
        return NoContent();
    }
}

public class Product
{
    public int Id { get; set; }
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public decimal Price { get; set; }
}

Advanced Topics

Dive deeper into more complex API development patterns and best practices.

API Versioning
Rate Limiting
Dependency Injection
Asynchronous Programming
Error Handling Strategies
Logging and Monitoring
Testing APIs (Unit, Integration)
Using Swagger/OpenAPI for Documentation

Community Resources

Engage with the community and find valuable resources.