This document provides an overview of ASP.NET, including its history, the MVC pattern, routing, controllers, models, views, and filters. It discusses ASP.NET MVC and Web API, comparing their concepts. Finally, it briefly introduces ASP.NET 5 and some of its key differences from earlier ASP.NET versions like the removal of Web Forms and integration of MVC and Web API into a single framework.

1. ASP.NET: Building Web Application… in the right way

2. ASP.NET a brief history
• 2001 – first release
• 2009 – ASP.NET MVC
• 2012 – ASP.NET Web API
• 2013 – OWIN and SignalR
• 2015 – ASP.NET 5 (RC1)

3. MVC pattern
notifies
Controller
Model
View
interacts
with
modifies
modifies
listens /
gets data from

4. MVC web style
Webpageinteracts
with
Controller
Model
View
selects a
passes a model to
acts on
gets data fromproduces
invokes

5. ASP.NET MVC
• A new presentation option for ASP.NET
• Simpler way to program ASP.NET
• Easily testable and TDD friendly
• More control over your <html/>
• More control over your URLs
• Supports existing ASP.NET features
• Removes: viewstate and postback needs

6. Routing
Webpageinteracts
with
Controller
Model
View
selects a
passes a model to
acts on
gets data fromproduces
invokes

7. Routing - example
public class OrdersController : Controller
{
public ActionResult Index()
{
}
public ActionResult Details(int id)
{
}
}
http://www.yoursite.com/Orders/Details/1

8. Routing - example
http://www.yoursite.com/Orders/Details/1
public class OrdersController : Controller
{
public ActionResult Index()
{
}
public ActionResult Details(int id)
{
}
}

9. Routing - example
http://www.yoursite.com/Orders/Details/1
public class OrdersController : Controller
{
public ActionResult Index()
{
}
public ActionResult Details(int id)
{
}
}

10. Routing – configuration
public static void RegisterRoutes(RouteCollection routes)
{
routes.IgnoreRoute("{resource}.axd/{*pathInfo}");
routes.MapRoute(
name: "Default",
url: "{controller}/{action}/{id}",
defaults: new { controller = "Home",
action = "Index", id = UrlParameter.Optional });
}

11. Routing – configuration
routes.MapMvcAttributeRoutes();
//
public class OrdersController : Controller
{
[Route("Orders/{id}/Items")]
public ActionResult OrderItems(int id)
{
}
}
http://www.yoursite.com/Orders/1/Items

12. Controller
Webpageinteracts
with
Controller
Model
View
selects a
passes a model to
acts on
gets data fromproduces
invokes

13. Controller
public class OrdersController : Controller
{
public ActionResult Details(int? id)
{
Order order = db.Orders.Find(id);
if (order == null)
return HttpNotFound();
return View(order);
}
}
View("MyWonderfulOrderView", order);

14. Controller – routing and HTTP methods
public class OrdersController : Controller
{
// GET: Orders/Edit/5
public ActionResult Edit(int? id)
{
}
// POST: Orders/Edit/5
[HttpPost]
public ActionResult Edit(Order order)
{
}
}

15. Model
Webpageinteracts
with
Controller
Model
View
selects a
passes a model to
acts on
gets data fromproduces
invokes

16. Model
• View Model or Business Model
• Validation attributes, for example:
• Required
• EmailAddress
• StringLength
• View-related attributes, e.g. Display
public class LoginViewModel
{
[Required]
[Display(Name = "Email address")]
[EmailAddress]
public string Email { get; set; }
[Required]
[DataType(DataType.Password)]
[Display(Name = "Password")]
public string Password { get; set; }
[Display(Name = "Remember me")]
public bool RememberMe { get; set; }
}

17. View
Webpageinteracts
with
Controller
Model
View
selects a
passes a model to
acts on
gets data fromproduces
invokes

18. View
• Related to controllers/actions by naming convetion
• Several View Engine. Standard: Razor, WebFormViewEngine
• Support layouts and partial views
• Can use strongly-typed model (e.g. Order) or dynamic one (ViewBag)
• @Html helper methods (e.g. @Html.TextBoxFor)
• @Html methods can be extended

19. ActionResult
• ActionResult is the base class for action’s return types
• Available results:
• ViewResult - Renders a specifed view to the response stream
• RedirectResult - Performs an HTTP redirection to a specifed URL
• RedirectToRouteResult - Performs an HTTP redirection to a URL that is determined by
the routing engine, based on given route data
• JsonResult - Serializes a given ViewData object to JSON format
• ContentResult - Writes content to the response stream without requiring a view
• FileContentResult - Returns a file to the client
• and more

20. Model binder
• Transform values from client to .NET class instances or primitive types
• Retrieves values from HTML form variables, POSTed variables, query string
and routing parameters
• DefaultModelBinder is the default binder
• Binding can be customized, for specific types at application level or at action’s
parameter level

21. Filters
• Enable Aspect Oriented Programming (AOP)
• Different types for different needs:
• Authorization filters – IAuthorizationFilter
• Action filters – IActionFilter
• Result filters – IResultFilter
• Exception filters – IExceptionFilter
• Filters can be applied to a single action or a whole controller

22. Q&A
Q&A

23. ASP.NET Web API
• Formerly part of WCF framework
• 2012 – First release
• 2013 – Release of Web API 2
• First class framework for HTTP-based services
• Foundamental for creating RESTful services
• Self-hosted
• Different stacks, same concepts – System.Web.Mvc  System.Web.Http

24. ASP.NET Web API cf. MVC
• Similar route patterns declarations
• Request/method name matching by HTTP verbs
config.MapHttpAttributeRoutes();
config.Routes.MapHttpRoute(
name: "DefaultApi",
routeTemplate: "api/{controller}/{id}",
defaults: new { id = RouteParameter.Optional }

25. ASP.NET Web API cf. MVC
GET http://www.yoursite.com/api/Orders/5
public class OrdersController : ApiController
{
IQueryable<Order> GetOrders() { … }
IHttpActionResult GetOrder(int id) { … }
IHttpActionResult PutOrder(int id, Order order) { … }
IHttpActionResult PostOrder(Order order) { … }
IHttpActionResult DeleteOrder(int id) { … }
}

26. ASP.NET Web API cf. MVC
• No views or ActionResult just data or IHttpActionResult
• Data are serialized in JSON or other format (e.g. XML)
• Controllers inherit from ApiController
• No more HttpContext.Current
• View filters

27. ASP.NET Web API - OData
“An open protocol to allow the creation and consumption of queryable and
interoperable RESTful APIs in a simple and standard way”
EnableQueryAttribute
Implements out of the box most of the OData query system: filters, pagination,
projection, etc.

28. Let’s go to code
Let’s go to code

29. Q&A
Q&A

30. What’s next? ASP.NET 5

31. ASP.NET 5 – .NET Core
• Totally modular
• Faster development cycle
• Seamless transition from on-premises to cloud
• Choose your editor and tools
• Open-source
• Cross-platform
• Fast

32. ASP.NET 5 cf. ASP.NET 4.X
• No more Web Forms and Web API only MVC
• One ring stack to rule them all, i.e. no more double coding
• Tag helpers – cleaner HTML views
• Project and configuration files in JSON
• Server side and client side packages completelly decoupled
• much more 

33. thank you for your attention
stay tuned for next workshops
Andrea Vallotti, ph.D
andrea.vallotti@commitsoftware.it