What is ASP.NET Core?

ASP.NET Core – What It Is & Why Use It?

🔹 1️⃣ What is ASP.NET Core?

ASP.NET Core is a cross-platform, open-source framework for building modern, high-performance web applications and APIs. It is the successor to ASP.NET and is designed for scalability, performance, and flexibility.

🌍 Key Features:

• ✅ Cross-Platform – Runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux.
• ✅ High Performance – Faster than traditional ASP.NET due to Kestrel web server.
• ✅ Unified Framework – Supports MVC, Razor Pages, Web APIs, Blazor.
• ✅ Dependency Injection (DI) – Built-in support for DI.
• ✅ Minimal & Modular – Uses middleware pipeline for efficient processing.
• ✅ Cloud-Ready – Works seamlessly with Azure, AWS, Docker, Kubernetes.
• ✅ Security – Supports JWT, OAuth, OpenID Connect for authentication.

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🔹 2️⃣ Why Use ASP.NET Core?

1️⃣ High Performance & Scalability 🚀

• Uses Kestrel web server, making it faster than Node.js and traditional ASP.NET.
• Supports asynchronous programming with async/await for handling concurrent requests.

2️⃣ Cross-Platform Support 🌎

• Runs on Windows, Linux, and macOS using .NET Core Runtime.
• Deployable on Docker & Kubernetes.

3️⃣ Flexible & Modular Architecture 🛠️

• Uses Middleware Pipeline instead of traditional HTTP modules.
• Supports Microservices and Cloud-Native applications.

4️⃣ Unified Development 🏗️

• One framework for Web Apps (MVC, Razor Pages), Web APIs, Blazor, and Real-Time Apps (SignalR).

5️⃣ Modern Security 🔒

• Built-in Authentication & Authorization (JWT, OAuth, OpenID Connect).
• Data Protection API for encrypting sensitive data.

6️⃣ Dependency Injection (DI) Out-of-the-Box 💉

• Promotes loose coupling and testability.

7️⃣ Open Source & Active Community 🌎

• Regular updates and contributions from Microsoft & the developer community.

8️⃣ Seamless Integration with Azure & DevOps ☁️

• Works well with Azure App Services, Azure Functions, and CI/CD Pipelines.

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🔹 3️⃣ ASP.NET Core vs ASP.NET Framework

Feature	ASP.NET Core	ASP.NET Framework
Cross-Platform	✅ Yes	❌ No (Windows Only)
Performance	🚀 High	🐢 Lower
Dependency Injection	✅ Built-in	❌ External Packages Required
Microservices Ready	✅ Yes	❌ Limited
Lightweight & Modular	✅ Yes	❌ No
Hosting	✅ Self-hosted (Kestrel, IIS, Nginx)	❌ IIS Only
Container & Cloud Support	✅ Yes (Docker, Kubernetes)	❌ Limited

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🔹 4️⃣ Key Components of ASP.NET Core

1️⃣ ASP.NET Core MVC

• Model-View-Controller architecture for web applications.
• Supports Razor Views and Tag Helpers.

2️⃣ ASP.NET Core Web API

• Used to build RESTful APIs for client applications.
• Supports JSON serialization (System.Text.Json).

3️⃣ Blazor

• Build interactive UI with C# instead of JavaScript.
• Supports WebAssembly & Server-Side Blazor.

4️⃣ SignalR

• Real-time communication (like chat apps & notifications).
• Uses WebSockets for efficient data streaming.

5️⃣ Minimal APIs (ASP.NET Core 6+)

• Lightweight API development with minimal boilerplate code.
• Example:

var builder = WebApplication.CreateBuilder(args);
var app = builder.Build();

app.MapGet("/", () => "Hello, ASP.NET Core!");
app.Run();

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🔹 5️⃣ How to Get Started with ASP.NET Core

1️⃣ Install .NET SDK

• Download from dotnet.microsoft.com.
• Check installation:

dotnet --version

2️⃣ Create a New ASP.NET Core Project

dotnet new webapp -o MyApp
cd MyApp
dotnet run

• Open localhost:5000 in your browser!

3️⃣ Build Your First Web API

dotnet new webapi -o MyAPI
cd MyAPI
dotnet run

📌 Open http://localhost:5000/swagger to test API endpoints.

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🔹 6️⃣ Deploying ASP.NET Core

1️⃣ Hosting on IIS

• Publish using:

dotnet publish --configuration Release

• Deploy to IIS with Windows Hosting Bundle.

2️⃣ Deploying to Azure

az webapp up --name MyAspNetApp --runtime DOTNETCORE:7.0

• Deploys directly to Azure App Service.

3️⃣ Running in Docker

• Create a Dockerfile:

FROM mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/aspnet:7.0
COPY . /app
WORKDIR /app
CMD ["dotnet", "MyApp.dll"]

• Build & Run:

docker build -t myapp .
docker run -p 8080:80 myapp

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🔹 Conclusion

🔥 ASP.NET Core is the go-to framework for modern, high-performance web development.

✅ Faster, cross-platform, cloud-ready, and modular.

🚀 Perfect for Web Apps, APIs, Microservices, Blazor, and Real-Time Apps.

💡 Want to build a project in ASP.NET Core? Let me know! 🚀