Anatomy of ASP.NET Core Web API

This chapter starts with a quick recap of MVC. You might be surprised why we need MVC when we are working with web APIs. It's because the ASP.NET Web API is designed based on the MVC principles of Controllers, Models, and Views (the response returned can be treated as a faceless view in the case of a Web API).

Our focus in this chapter is to know why we need a lightweight HTTP-based service technology in the form of a Web API, its evolution to meet the constantly changing industry demands, the entry of Microsoft into the world of Open Source in the form of .NET Core and ASP.NET Core apps, and not limiting ourselves to the world of Windows OS for developing ASP.NET web applications.

In this chapter, we will be looking at the following topics:

• A quick recap of the MVC framework
• Inception of web APIs and their evolution
• Introduction to .NET Core
• An overview of the ASP.NET Core Architecture
• Creating an ASP.NET Core Project using Visual Studio IDE
• Creating an ASP.NET Core Project in Linux/macOS
• Examining the ASP.NET Core project files and structures
• Understanding Request processing
• MVC and web API unification
• Running the ASP.NET Core Web API