MSDN Documentation

Create a New ASP.NET MVC Project

This tutorial guides you through the process of creating a new ASP.NET MVC web application project using Visual Studio.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have the following installed:

• Visual Studio 2022 (or later) with the ".NET desktop development" and "ASP.NET and web development" workloads installed.
• A basic understanding of C# and web development concepts.

Steps to Create a New Project

1. Launch Visual Studio: Open Visual Studio from your Start menu.
2. Start a New Project: On the Visual Studio start window, click on "Create a new project".
3. Select Project Template: In the "Create a new project" dialog, search for "ASP.NET Web Application (.NET Framework)" or "ASP.NET Core Web App (Model-View-Controller)" depending on your target framework. For this tutorial, we'll assume you're using ASP.NET MVC on .NET Framework. Select the appropriate template and click "Next".
   Note: The template names might vary slightly between Visual Studio versions. Always look for the MVC pattern.
4. Configure Your Project:
   • Enter a Project name (e.g., MyMvcApp).
   • Choose a Location for your project files.
   • Click "OK".
5. Choose a Template: In the "Additional information" dialog, select "MVC" as the template. You can also choose to add folders for Razor views or select authentication options here. For a standard MVC project, ensure "MVC" is checked. Click "Create".

Project Structure

Once the project is created, Visual Studio will generate a standard ASP.NET MVC project structure. Key folders include:

• Controllers: Contains your controller classes, which handle incoming requests.
• Models: Contains your data models, representing the data your application works with.
• Views: Contains your view files (typically `.cshtml`), which render the user interface.
• App_Start: Contains configuration files like RouteConfig.cs for URL routing.
• Content: For static files like CSS and images.
• Scripts: For JavaScript files.

Running Your Application

To run your newly created application:

1. Press F5 or click the "IIS Express" (or your configured web server) button in the Visual Studio toolbar.
2. Your default web browser will open, displaying your application's homepage.

You have now successfully created a new ASP.NET MVC project. You can begin adding controllers, models, and views to build your web application.

Next Steps

Continue learning by exploring:

• Creating Controllers
• Working with Views
• Defining Models
• Implementing Routing