Syllabus

ASP.NET Core Complete Tutorial (ShopNest)

Module 1: Foundations
What is ASP.NET Core? Complete Guide Setting Up ASP.NET Core Development Environment ASP.NET Core Project Structure Explained MVC Architecture in ASP.NET Core — Complete Guide Controllers and Actions in ASP.NET Core Routing in ASP.NET Core — Conventional and Attribute Routing Views and Razor Syntax in ASP.NET Core Layouts, Partial Views and View Components Models and ViewModels in ASP.NET Core Forms, Model Binding and Validation in ASP.NET Core Tag Helpers in ASP.NET Core — Complete Guide Static Files, Bundling and Minification in ASP.NET Core
Module 2: Entity Framework Core
Entity Framework Core — Introduction and Setup EF Core Code First — Models, Migrations, Database EF Core CRUD Operations — Create, Read, Update, Delete EF Core LINQ Queries — Beginner to Advanced EF Core Relationships — One-to-One, One-to-Many, Many-to-Many EF Core Fluent API — Advanced Configuration EF Core Repository Pattern and Unit of Work EF Core Performance Optimization Database First Approach with EF Core (Scaffold) EF Core with SQL Server — Advanced Features
Module 3: Dependency Injection & Middleware
Dependency Injection in ASP.NET Core — Complete Guide Middleware in ASP.NET Core — Complete Guide Configuration in ASP.NET Core — appsettings, Environment Variables, Secrets Filters in ASP.NET Core — Action, Authorization, Exception, Resource, Result Logging in ASP.NET Core — ILogger, Serilog, NLog Error Handling and Exception Management in ASP.NET Core
Module 4: Authentication & Security
ASP.NET Core Identity — Complete Setup Guide Authentication in ASP.NET Core — Cookie and JWT Authorization in ASP.NET Core — Roles, Policies, Claims JWT Authentication with Refresh Tokens — Complete Implementation OAuth2 and External Login (Google, Facebook, Microsoft) Data Protection and Encryption in ASP.NET Core HTTPS, SSL Certificates and Security Best Practices
Module 5: Web API
Building REST APIs with ASP.NET Core — Complete Guide API Versioning in ASP.NET Core Swagger / OpenAPI Documentation in ASP.NET Core Input Validation in Web APIs — FluentValidation and Data Annotations Pagination, Filtering and Sorting in ASP.NET Core APIs HTTP Client and Consuming External APIs in ASP.NET Core Minimal APIs in ASP.NET Core .NET 8 SignalR — Real-Time Web Applications
Module 6: Advanced Architecture
Clean Architecture in ASP.NET Core CQRS Pattern with MediatR in ASP.NET Core Repository Pattern — Deep Dive with Generic Repository Background Services and Hosted Services in ASP.NET Core Caching in ASP.NET Core — In-Memory, Distributed, Redis Health Checks in ASP.NET Core AutoMapper in ASP.NET Core Microservices with ASP.NET Core — Introduction Message Queues with RabbitMQ / Azure Service Bus in ASP.NET Core gRPC with ASP.NET Core
Module 7: Testing
Unit Testing ASP.NET Core with xUnit and Moq Integration Testing in ASP.NET Core Testing EF Core — In-Memory vs SQLite Performance Testing and Load Testing ASP.NET Core APIs Test-Driven Development (TDD) in ASP.NET Core
Module 8: Deployment & DevOps
Deploying ASP.NET Core to IIS on Windows Server Docker and Containerization for ASP.NET Core Deploying ASP.NET Core to Azure App Service CI/CD with GitHub Actions for ASP.NET Core Azure SQL Database with ASP.NET Core Environment Configuration and Secrets Management
Module 9: Real-World Projects
Build a Complete Blog Website with ASP.NET Core MVC Build an E-Commerce Product Catalog API (ASP.NET Core Web API) Build a Student Management System (Complete CRUD App) Build a Job Portal (Full Stack ASP.NET Core) Build a REST API with Clean Architecture — Complete Guide Build a Real-Time Chat App with SignalR and ASP.NET Core
Module 10: Advanced Topics
Blazor WebAssembly and Blazor Server — Complete Guide gRPC, GraphQL and Alternative API Styles in ASP.NET Core Rate Limiting and API Throttling in ASP.NET Core .NET 8 Output Caching in ASP.NET Core .NET 8 ASP.NET Core .NET 9 New Features — Complete Guide
ASP.NET Core Complete Tutorial (ShopNest)
Lesson 36 of 75 48% of course

Building REST APIs with ASP.NET Core — Complete Guide

1 · 5 min · 5/24/2026

Learn Building REST APIs with ASP.NET Core — Complete Guide in our free ASP.NET Core Complete Tutorial (ShopNest) series. Step-by-step explanations, examples, and interview tips on Toolliyo Academy.

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Building REST APIs with ASP.NET Core — Complete Guide — ShopNest
Article 36 of 75 · Module 5: Web API · ShopNest Product Catalog API
Target keyword: rest api asp.net core tutorial · Read time: ~32 min · .NET: 8 / 9 · Project: ShopNest Product Catalog API

Introduction

ShopNest's Product Catalog API exposes products to mobile apps and partners using REST — resources identified by URLs, manipulated with HTTP verbs, and described with proper status codes and DTOs (never raw EF entities).

After this article you will

  • Apply REST principles and resource-oriented URLs
  • Use [ApiController] and attribute routing
  • Return correct status codes with ActionResult<T>
  • Separate request/response DTOs from domain models
  • Build full product CRUD API testable in Postman

Prerequisites

Concept deep-dive

MethodActionSuccess code
GETList / get by id200
POSTCreate201 + Location header
PUTFull replace200 / 204
PATCHPartial update200
DELETERemove204
 
[ApiController]
[Route("api/v1/[controller]")]
public class ProductsController : ControllerBase
{
  [HttpGet]
  public async Task<ActionResult<IEnumerable<ProductListDto>>> GetAll()
      => Ok(await _service.GetAllAsync());

  [HttpGet("{id:int}")]
  public async Task<ActionResult<ProductDetailDto>> Get(int id)
  {
      var p = await _service.GetByIdAsync(id);
      return p == null ? NotFound() : Ok(p);
  }

  [HttpPost]
  public async Task<ActionResult<ProductDetailDto>> Create(CreateProductDto dto)
  {
      var created = await _service.CreateAsync(dto);
      return CreatedAtAction(nameof(Get), new { id = created.Id }, created);
  }
}

[ApiController] enables automatic 400 on invalid model, binding source inference, and ProblemDetails for errors.

Postman example: POST /api/v1/products body {"name":"Keyboard","price":2499} → 201 Created with Location: .../products/42.

Hands-on — ShopNest Product Catalog API

  1. Create ShopNest.Api project; reference Application + Infrastructure.
  2. ProductListDto, ProductDetailDto, CreateProductDto.
  3. ProductsController full CRUD + JWT [Authorize] from Article 32.
  4. Postman collection: GET list, GET by id, POST, PUT, DELETE.

Common errors & best practices

  • Returning entity with navigation properties — circular JSON and data leaks.
  • 200 on POST create — use 201 CreatedAtAction.
  • GET returning IEnumerable without pagination — Article 40 fixes this.

Interview questions

Q: IActionResult vs ActionResult<T>?
A: ActionResult<T> documents response type for OpenAPI; still allows NotFound() etc.

Q: What does [ApiController] do?
A: Automatic model validation 400, attribute routing assumptions, ProblemDetails.

Q: REST vs RPC?
A: REST uses nouns (resources) + HTTP verbs; RPC uses action URLs like /calculateTax.

Summary

  • REST = resources + HTTP verbs + meaningful status codes
  • DTOs protect domain and shape API contracts
  • ApiController + CreatedAtAction for professional CRUD
  • Product Catalog API is ShopNest mobile backbone

Previous: HTTPS, SSL Certificates and Security
Next: API Versioning

FAQ

XML responses?

Add XmlSerializerFormatters — JSON is default for modern clients.

Controller vs Minimal API?

Both valid — Article 42 compares; controllers better for large teams initially.

Interview Q&A for this course

Test your knowledge

Quizzes linked to this course—pass to earn certificates.

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ASP.NET Core Complete Tutorial (ShopNest)

On this page

Introduction After this article you will Prerequisites Concept deep-dive Hands-on — ShopNest Product Catalog API Common errors &amp; best practices Interview questions Summary FAQ XML responses? Controller vs Minimal API?
Module 1: Foundations
What is ASP.NET Core? Complete Guide Setting Up ASP.NET Core Development Environment ASP.NET Core Project Structure Explained MVC Architecture in ASP.NET Core — Complete Guide Controllers and Actions in ASP.NET Core Routing in ASP.NET Core — Conventional and Attribute Routing Views and Razor Syntax in ASP.NET Core Layouts, Partial Views and View Components Models and ViewModels in ASP.NET Core Forms, Model Binding and Validation in ASP.NET Core Tag Helpers in ASP.NET Core — Complete Guide Static Files, Bundling and Minification in ASP.NET Core
Module 2: Entity Framework Core
Entity Framework Core — Introduction and Setup EF Core Code First — Models, Migrations, Database EF Core CRUD Operations — Create, Read, Update, Delete EF Core LINQ Queries — Beginner to Advanced EF Core Relationships — One-to-One, One-to-Many, Many-to-Many EF Core Fluent API — Advanced Configuration EF Core Repository Pattern and Unit of Work EF Core Performance Optimization Database First Approach with EF Core (Scaffold) EF Core with SQL Server — Advanced Features
Module 3: Dependency Injection & Middleware
Dependency Injection in ASP.NET Core — Complete Guide Middleware in ASP.NET Core — Complete Guide Configuration in ASP.NET Core — appsettings, Environment Variables, Secrets Filters in ASP.NET Core — Action, Authorization, Exception, Resource, Result Logging in ASP.NET Core — ILogger, Serilog, NLog Error Handling and Exception Management in ASP.NET Core
Module 4: Authentication & Security
ASP.NET Core Identity — Complete Setup Guide Authentication in ASP.NET Core — Cookie and JWT Authorization in ASP.NET Core — Roles, Policies, Claims JWT Authentication with Refresh Tokens — Complete Implementation OAuth2 and External Login (Google, Facebook, Microsoft) Data Protection and Encryption in ASP.NET Core HTTPS, SSL Certificates and Security Best Practices
Module 5: Web API
Building REST APIs with ASP.NET Core — Complete Guide API Versioning in ASP.NET Core Swagger / OpenAPI Documentation in ASP.NET Core Input Validation in Web APIs — FluentValidation and Data Annotations Pagination, Filtering and Sorting in ASP.NET Core APIs HTTP Client and Consuming External APIs in ASP.NET Core Minimal APIs in ASP.NET Core .NET 8 SignalR — Real-Time Web Applications
Module 6: Advanced Architecture
Clean Architecture in ASP.NET Core CQRS Pattern with MediatR in ASP.NET Core Repository Pattern — Deep Dive with Generic Repository Background Services and Hosted Services in ASP.NET Core Caching in ASP.NET Core — In-Memory, Distributed, Redis Health Checks in ASP.NET Core AutoMapper in ASP.NET Core Microservices with ASP.NET Core — Introduction Message Queues with RabbitMQ / Azure Service Bus in ASP.NET Core gRPC with ASP.NET Core
Module 7: Testing
Unit Testing ASP.NET Core with xUnit and Moq Integration Testing in ASP.NET Core Testing EF Core — In-Memory vs SQLite Performance Testing and Load Testing ASP.NET Core APIs Test-Driven Development (TDD) in ASP.NET Core
Module 8: Deployment & DevOps
Deploying ASP.NET Core to IIS on Windows Server Docker and Containerization for ASP.NET Core Deploying ASP.NET Core to Azure App Service CI/CD with GitHub Actions for ASP.NET Core Azure SQL Database with ASP.NET Core Environment Configuration and Secrets Management
Module 9: Real-World Projects
Build a Complete Blog Website with ASP.NET Core MVC Build an E-Commerce Product Catalog API (ASP.NET Core Web API) Build a Student Management System (Complete CRUD App) Build a Job Portal (Full Stack ASP.NET Core) Build a REST API with Clean Architecture — Complete Guide Build a Real-Time Chat App with SignalR and ASP.NET Core
Module 10: Advanced Topics
Blazor WebAssembly and Blazor Server — Complete Guide gRPC, GraphQL and Alternative API Styles in ASP.NET Core Rate Limiting and API Throttling in ASP.NET Core .NET 8 Output Caching in ASP.NET Core .NET 8 ASP.NET Core .NET 9 New Features — Complete Guide