Asp.

Net Core MVC

(.Net8)
In this ASP.NET Core Tutorials series,

We will discuss all the basic, intermediate, and advanced concepts of ASP.NET Core. These ASP.NET
Core tutorials will help we to build rich data-driven web applications. At the end of this ASP.NET Core
Tutorial series, we will be better positioned to develop different kinds of Real-time applications using
EF Core, SQL Server Database, ASP.NET Core Identity, etc. We will learn ASP.NET Core basics, ASP.NET
Core Razor Pages, ASP.NET Core MVC, Blazor, Entity Framework Core, and ASP.NET Core Web API.

ASP.NET Core (.NET):

ASP.NET Core (.NET) is a free, open-source, and cloud-optimized framework that can run on Windows,
Linux, or macOS. It is the new version of ASP.NET. The framework was completely rewritten to be
open-source, modular, and cross-platform.

ASP.NET Core:
-> Web Framework
-> Open-Source
-> Cross-Platform
-> Modular
-> Cloud Optimize
-> Runs on top of the .NET Core and .NET Framework

What is .NET Core?

 .NET Core is the new version of the .NET Framework, a free, open-source, general-purpose
development platform maintained by Microsoft.
 It was designed to build modern, high-performance, and scalable applications that could run on
Windows, macOS, and Linux.
 .NET Core aimed to provide a unified platform for developing various applications, including web
applications, desktop applications, microservices, and more.

.NET Core is written from scratch to be a modular, lightweight, fast, and cross-platform framework.
It includes the core features required to run a basic .NET Core app.
Other features are provided as NuGet Packages, which you can add to your application as needed.
In this way, the .NET Core application speeds up performance, reduces the memory footprint, and
becomes easy to maintain.

Why .NET Core Over .NET Framework?

There are some limitations to the .NET Framework.

For example,
 it only runs on the Windows Platform. Also, you need to use different .NET APIs for different
Windows devices such as Windows Desktop, Windows Store, Windows Phone, and Web
Applications.

The following are some of the reasons why you might choose .NET Core over .NET Framework for
your application development:

Cross-Platform Compatibility: .NET Core was designed from the ground up to be cross-platform,
allowing you to develop applications that can run on Windows, macOS, and Linux. .NET Framework,

1
on the other hand, was primarily Windows-centric. If you needed your application to work on non-
Windows platforms, .NET Core was the better choice.

Open Source:

.NET Core was open source, meaning you can access the source code and contribute to its
development. This allows you to customize the framework to suit your needs better. .NET Framework
was not open source.
If you need an Open Source framework for your application, then .NET Core is the winner here.

Performance and Modernization:

.NET Core was optimized for performance and suitable for modern application development.
It included features like just-in-time (JIT) compilation, which improved runtime performance, and
support for modern application patterns like microservices and containerization.
.NET Framework was designed in an earlier era and lacked these features.

Long-Term Support (LTS):

.NET Core introduced the concept of LTS releases, which provided a stable and supported platform for
an extended period.
This was particularly important for enterprise applications that required long-term stability and
security updates.
Currently, Microsoft will not provide any new enhancements for the .NET Framework.

Note: Microsoft continued encouraging developers to migrate from .NET Framework to .NET Core and
the subsequent .NET 5+ versions to take advantage of the benefits mentioned above.

.NET Core Characteristics:

Open-Source Framework: .NET Core is an open-source framework maintained by Microsoft and

available on GitHub under MIT and Apache 2 Licenses. You can view, download, or contribute to the
source code using the following GitHub repositories:
.NET Core Runtime: https://github.com/dotnet/runtime
.NET Core SDK: https://github.com/dotnet/sdk
ASP.NET Core: https://github.com/dotnet/aspnetcore
Language Compiler Platform Roslyn: https://github.com/dotnet/roslyn.
CLI Tools: .NET Core includes CLI tools (Command Line Interface) for development and continuous
integration.
Flexible Deployment: .NET Core applications can be deployed user-wide or system-wide or with
Docker Containers.
Compatibility: Compatible with .NET Framework and Mono APIs using .NET Standard Specification.

.NET Core:
Developer(s): .NET Foundation
Initial Release: .NET Core 1.0 – 27th June 2016
Stable Release: .NET 8
Preview Release: .NET 9
Repository: github.com/dotnet/core
Written: C++ and C#
Operating System: Windows, Linux, and macOS
Type: Software Framework
Website: dotnet.microsoft.com

.NET Core Versions:

A new major release of .NET is published every year in November, enabling developers, the
community, and businesses to plan their roadmaps. Even numbered releases are LTS releases with

2
free support and patches for three years. Odd-numbered releases are STS releases with free support
and patches for 18 months.

.NET Core has evolved over various versions, with each version introducing new features,
improvements, and changes. Here are some notable features introduced in each major version
of .NET Core:

.NET Core 1.0 (Initial Release – June 2016):

Initial release of .NET Core.
Cross-platform support (Windows, macOS, and Linux).
Introduction of the Command-Line Interface (CLI) tools.
CoreCLR (Core Common Language Runtime), the cross-platform CLR.
CoreFX, the foundational libraries.
Support for ASP.NET Core for web applications.
NuGet package manager for dependency management.

.NET Core 1.1 (November 2016):

Performance improvements and bug fixes.
Enhanced compatibility with .NET Framework libraries.
More APIs were added to increase compatibility with the .NET Framework.
Azure support enhancements.
Entity Framework Core 1.1 included improvements and new features.

.NET Core 2.0 (August 2017):

Introduction of .NET Standard 2.0 for uniform API specification.
Enhanced tooling for Visual Studio.
Major performance improvements.
Expanded OS support and increased compatibility with .NET Framework.
Visual Basic support was added.
Introduction of Razor Pages in ASP.NET Core for page-based coding model.

.NET Core 2.1 (May 2018):

Span<T> and Memory<T> for performance improvements in buffer management.
Improved support for Linux containers.
SignalR for real-time web functionality.
Improved build performance and runtime compilation.
Global tools for extending the CLI.
GDPR compliance features in ASP.NET Core.

.NET Core 2.2 (December 2018):

HTTP/2 support in ASP.NET Core.
Improved gRPC support.
Enhanced diagnostic tools.
Health Checks API for application health monitoring.
Improved HTTP request routing.
A new JIT compiler, a tiered compilation, which improves startup time.

.NET Core 3.0 (September 2019):

Support for Windows Desktop Applications (WPF and Windows Forms).
Introduction of C# 8.0.
Performance improvements across the board.
Support for IoT and AI workloads.
Introduction of gRPC in ASP.NET Core.

.NET Core 3.1 (December 2019):

LTS (Long-Term Support) release.
Focus on stability and bug fixes.

3
Enhanced performance and support for cloud-native applications.
Blazor Server is used to build interactive web UIs using C#.
Improved performance for JSON serialization and deserialization.
Improved support for Azure Functions and Azure App Service.

.NET 5 (November 2020):

.NET Core and .NET Framework were merged into a unified platform called “.NET 5.”. Microsoft
dropped the “Core” branding from .NET 5 onward to unify the .NET platforms.
Support for ARM64 architecture.
Improved support for containers and cloud-native development.
Improved single-file applications.
Better performance improvements, including garbage collection and System.Text.Json.
C# 9.0 with records, pattern-matching enhancements, and top-level programs.
F# 5.0 with interactive programming and a performance boost.
Blazor WebAssembly for full-stack web development with .NET.

.NET 6 (November 2021):

Introduction of MAUI (Multi-platform App UI) for cross-platform app development.
Support for HTTP/3.
Unified platform for all .NET code.
Long-term support (LTS) release.
C# 10 and F# 6 with new features and enhancements.
Minimal API for simplified and clean API endpoints in ASP.NET Core.
Blazor Desktop allows Blazor components to run in desktop apps.
Hot reload capabilities for .NET apps across different application types.
AOT compilation for improved startup and support for Apple Silicon (M1).

.NET 7 (November 2022)

Performance Improvements
Introduction of new language features in C# 11
Minimal APIs enhancements
SignalR improvements
General Availability of .NET MAUI
Container improvements
Enhanced support for gRPC
Integration with Azure AI and ML features
Hot Reload improvements for .NET and Visual Studio
Better support for Kubernetes

.NET 8 (November 2023)

Performance Enhancements
C# 12 Integration
JSON Handling
ASP.NET Core Improvements
.NET MAUI Enhancements
Cryptography and Security improvements
AI and Machine Learning Enhanced support
Extended Native AOT (Ahead-of-Time) Compilation

These are key features introduced in each version of .NET Core and the subsequent unified .NET
platform. It’s important to note that the .NET ecosystem continues to evolve, with new features and
improvements regularly added in subsequent versions beyond .NET 6.

.NET Core Composition:

The .NET Core Framework is composed of the following parts:
 CLI Tools: A set of tooling for development and deployment.
 Roslyn: .NET Compiler Platform.

4
 CoreFx: A Set of framework libraries.
 CoreCLR: A JIT-based CLR (Common Language Runtime).
 CoreCLR is the .NET execution engine in .NET Core, performing garbage collection and machine
code compilation functions.

What Type of Application Can You Develop with ASP.NET Core?

Web: ASP.NET Core MVC, Web API, Razor Pages, and Microservices
Mobile
Console
Desktop Applications (Starting from 3.0)
IoT
ML
Gaming Applications
Cloud Applications

Application Types: We will discuss the following as part of this course.

ASP.NET Core with Razor Pages

ASP.NET Core with MVC (ASP.NET Core MVC or Core MVC or MVC Core)
ASP.NET Core with WEB API (ASP.NET Core Web API or Core Web API or Web API Core)
ASP.NET Core with Angular (Single Page Application)
ASP.NET Core with React JS (Single Page Application)
ASP.NET Core with React JS & Redux (Single Page Application)