Building RESTful APIs with ASP.NET Core Web API
🌐 Building RESTful APIs with ASP.NET Core Web API
ASP.NET Core is a modern, open-source, cross-platform framework by Microsoft for building web applications, including powerful and scalable RESTful APIs.
This guide walks you through the basics of creating your first REST API using ASP.NET Core Web API.
📦 What is a RESTful API?
A RESTful API is a web service that follows REST (Representational State Transfer) principles, allowing communication between clients and servers using standard HTTP methods:
HTTP Method Purpose Example Endpoint
GET Read data /api/products
POST Create data /api/products
PUT Update data /api/products/{id}
DELETE Delete data /api/products/{id}
🛠️ Prerequisites
.NET SDK
Visual Studio or Visual Studio Code
C# basics
🧱 Step-by-Step: Create a Web API Project
1. Create the Project
bash
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dotnet new webapi -n MyApi
cd MyApi
This creates a basic Web API template.
2. Understand the Structure
Key files:
Program.cs & Startup.cs (or just Program.cs in .NET 6+): App configuration
Controllers/WeatherForecastController.cs: Sample controller
appsettings.json: Configuration settings
3. Create a Model
csharp
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public class Product
{
public int Id { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
public decimal Price { get; set; }
}
4. Create a Controller
csharp
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using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
[ApiController]
[Route("api/[controller]")]
public class ProductsController : ControllerBase
{
private static List<Product> _products = new List<Product>
{
new Product { Id = 1, Name = "Laptop", Price = 999.99M },
new Product { Id = 2, Name = "Mouse", Price = 19.99M }
};
[HttpGet]
public ActionResult<IEnumerable<Product>> Get() => _products;
[HttpGet("{id}")]
public ActionResult<Product> Get(int id)
{
var product = _products.FirstOrDefault(p => p.Id == id);
if (product == null) return NotFound();
return product;
}
[HttpPost]
public ActionResult<Product> Post(Product product)
{
product.Id = _products.Max(p => p.Id) + 1;
_products.Add(product);
return CreatedAtAction(nameof(Get), new { id = product.Id }, product);
}
[HttpPut("{id}")]
public IActionResult Put(int id, Product updated)
{
var product = _products.FirstOrDefault(p => p.Id == id);
if (product == null) return NotFound();
product.Name = updated.Name;
product.Price = updated.Price;
return NoContent();
}
[HttpDelete("{id}")]
public IActionResult Delete(int id)
{
var product = _products.FirstOrDefault(p => p.Id == id);
if (product == null) return NotFound();
_products.Remove(product);
return NoContent();
}
}
🚀 Running the API
bash
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dotnet run
Navigate to https://localhost:5001/swagger to see the Swagger UI (interactive API docs).
🧰 Bonus Features in ASP.NET Core Web API
🧪 Swagger/OpenAPI: Built-in with template for API testing and docs.
🔐 Authentication & Authorization: Supports JWT, OAuth, Identity.
📦 Dependency Injection: Built-in and powerful.
🧵 Middleware Pipeline: Easy to add custom logging, error handling, etc.
🗂️ Entity Framework Core: For database integration.
✅ Final Tips
Follow REST naming conventions (/api/resources)
Use proper HTTP status codes (200 OK, 201 Created, 404 Not Found, etc.)
Use DTOs for data transfer and validation
Keep logic out of controllers (use services)
Would you like a complete project template, database integration example, or testing guide next?
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Understanding MVC (Model-View-Controller) Architecture in .NET
Introduction to Back-End Development with ASP.NET Core
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