ASP.NET Web API Learning Resources

ASP.NET Web API Learning Resources

Introduction ASP.NET Web API is a framework provided by Microsoft for building HTTP services that can be consumed by a wide range of clients, including web browsers, mobile devices, and desktop applications. It is a powerful tool for creating RESTful APIs that follow the principles of the HTTP protocol.

This documentation provides a curated list of learning resources for ASP.NET Web API, including tutorials, articles, and code examples, to help you get started and enhance your understanding of this framework.

Table of Contents

1. Official Microsoft Documentation

   • Overview and Getting Started Guide
   • Web API Routing
   • Handling HTTP Requests and Responses
   • Authentication and Authorization
   • Error Handling and Exception Filtering
   • Testing and Debugging Web APIs
   • Advanced Topics

2. Online Tutorials

   • Pluralsight: "Building a RESTful API with ASP.NET Web API" by Shawn Wildermuth
   • Microsoft Learn: "Create a Web API with ASP.NET Core"
   • Tutorialspoint: "ASP.NET Web API Tutorial"

3. Books

   • "Pro ASP.NET Web API" by Tugberk Ugurlu, Alexander Zeitler, and Ali Kheyrollahi
   • "ASP.NET Web API 2: Building a REST Service from Start to Finish" by Jamie Kurtz

4. Blogs and Articles

   • Microsoft Developer Blog: "ASP.NET Web API"
   • Code Maze: "ASP.NET Web API Tutorials"
   • DZone: "ASP.NET Web API Best Practices"

5. GitHub Repositories

   • ASP.NET Web API Samples: Official Microsoft repository with code samples
   • dotnet-architecture/eShopOnContainers: Sample reference application using ASP.NET Web API and Docker

Code Example:

Here's a simple code example to demonstrate the basic usage of ASP.NET Web API:

csharp
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Net;
using System.Net.Http;
using System.Web.Http;

namespace WebApiDemo.Controllers
{
    public class ValuesController : ApiController
    {
        private static List<string> values = new List<string>
        {
            "value1",
            "value2",
            "value3"
        };

        // GET api/values
        public IEnumerable<string> Get()
        {
            return values;
        }

        // GET api/values/{id}
        public string Get(int id)
        {
            if (id >= 0 && id < values.Count)
                return values[id];
            else
                throw new HttpResponseException(HttpStatusCode.NotFound);
        }

        // POST api/values
        public void Post([FromBody] string value)
        {
            values.Add(value);
        }

        // PUT api/values/{id}
        public void Put(int id, [FromBody] string value)
        {
            if (id >= 0 && id < values.Count)
                values[id] = value;
            else
                throw new HttpResponseException(HttpStatusCode.NotFound);
        }

        // DELETE api/values/{id}
        public void Delete(int id)
        {
            if (id >= 0 && id < values.Count)
                values.RemoveAt(id);
            else
                throw new HttpResponseException(HttpStatusCode.NotFound);
        }
    }
}

This code represents a simple Web API controller with CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) operations for a collection of values. The Get methods retrieve values, Post adds a new value, Put updates an existing value, and Delete removes a value. It demonstrates the basic structure and usage of ASP.NET Web API.

Explanation:

The code example demonstrates the implementation of an ASP.NET Web API controller called ValuesController. It includes various action methods decorated with HTTP verbs (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE) to handle different types of HTTP requests.

The Get() method returns all the values, while the Get(int id) method retrieves a specific value based on the provided id parameter. The Post(string value) method adds a new value to the collection, and the Put(int id, string value) method updates an existing value. The Delete(int id) method removes a value from the collection.

By leveraging the routing capabilities of ASP.NET Web API, these methods can be accessed via their corresponding URLs, such as /api/values for Get and Post, and /api/values/{id} for Get, Put, and Delete, where {id} is the identifier of the value.

This code example serves as a starting point for understanding the basic structure and functionality of ASP.NET Web API. You can build upon this foundation to create more sophisticated and feature-rich APIs.