This template is for a clean structured ASP.NET Core API project, following the RESTful principles, Clean Architecture principles, SOLID design principles, implementing the Dependency Injection, Repository, and Unit of Work design pattern, and utilizing Entity Framework Core for data access. It provides a standardized structure and organization for building robust and maintainable ASP.NET Core API applications with complete CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) operations.

Project Structure

The project structure is designed to promote separation of concerns and modularity, making it easier to understand, test, and maintain the application.

├── src
│   ├── Core                    # Contains the core business logic, domain models, view models, etc.
│   ├── Infrastructure          # Contains infrastructure concerns such as data access, external services, etc.
│   └── API                      # Contains the API layer, including controllers, extensions, etc.
├── tests
│   ├── Core.Tests              # Contains unit tests for the core layer
│   ├── Infrastructure.Tests    # Contains unit tests for the infrastructure layer
│   └── API.Tests                # Contains unit tests for the API layer
└── README.md                   # Project documentation (you are here!)

REST API

The API project contains the controllers responsible for handling HTTP requests and responses, adhering to RESTful principles. Here’s an overview of the key components involved in building RESTful APIs using ASP.NET Core:

1. Controllers: The API project contains controllers that handle HTTP requests and responses. Each controller is responsible for a specific resource or entity. Controllers define HTTP methods (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE) that map to specific actions for CRUD operations on entities.
2. Models/DTOs: The Core project may contain Data Transfer Objects (DTOs) that represent the data to be sent over the API. DTOs help in decoupling the client’s data format from the server’s data format.
3. Routing: The routing mechanism in ASP.NET Core maps incoming HTTP requests to the appropriate controller and action method based on the URL. RESTful APIs typically use a resource-based URL pattern.
4. HTTP Methods: RESTful APIs use standard HTTP methods (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE) to perform CRUD operations on resources. Each HTTP method corresponds to a specific action on the API.
5. Status Codes: RESTful APIs use standard HTTP status codes to indicate the success or failure of an API request. For example, 200 (OK) for successful GET requests, 201 (Created) for successful POST requests, 204 (No Content) for successful DELETE requests, etc.
6. Validation: RESTful APIs should include proper validation logic to ensure that incoming data is valid and adheres to the expected format.

Getting Started

To use this project template, follow the steps below:

1. Ensure the .NET 7 SDK is installed on your machine.
2. Clone or download this repository to your local machine.
3. Open the solution in your preferred IDE (e.g., Visual Studio, Visual Studio Code).
4. Build the solution to restore NuGet packages and compile the code.
5. Configure the necessary database connection settings in the appsettings.json file of the Infrastructure project.
6. Open the Package Manager Console, select Project.Infrastructure project, and run the Update-Database command to create the database.
7. Run the application by starting the Project.API project.

Project Features

This project template includes the following features:

• Clean Architecture: The project is structured according to the principles of Clean Architecture, which promotes the separation of concerns and a clear division of responsibilities.
• SOLID Design Principles: The code adheres to SOLID principles (Single Responsibility, Open-Closed, Liskov Substitution, Interface Segregation, and Dependency Inversion), making it easier to maintain and extend.
• Repository Pattern: The repository pattern abstracts the data access layer and provides a consistent interface for working with data.
• Unit of Work Pattern: The unit of work pattern helps manage transactions and ensures consistency when working with multiple repositories.
• Entity Framework Core: The project utilizes Entity Framework Core as the ORM (Object-Relational Mapping) tool for data access.
• ASP.NET Core API: The project includes an ASP.NET Core API project that serves as the API layer, handling HTTP requests and responses.
• CRUD Operations: The project template provides a foundation for implementing complete CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) operations on entities using Entity Framework Core.
• Dependency Injection: The project utilizes the built-in dependency injection container in ASP.NET Core, making it easy to manage and inject dependencies throughout the application.
• Unit Testing: The solution includes separate test projects for unit testing the core, infrastructure, and API layers.

Usage

The project template provides a starting point for building RESTful APIs using ASP.NET Core. You can modify and extend the existing code to suit your specific application requirements. Here’s an overview of the key components involved in building RESTful APIs:

1. Models: The Core project contains the domain models representing the entities you want to perform CRUD operations on. Update the models or add new ones according to your domain.
2. Repositories: The Infrastructure project contains repository implementations that handle data access operations using Entity Framework Core. Modify the repositories or create new ones to match your entity models and database structure.
3. Services: The Core project contains services that encapsulate the business logic and orchestrate the operations on repositories. Update or create new services to handle CRUD operations on your entities.
4. Controllers: The API project contains controllers that handle HTTP requests and responses. Update or create new controllers to expose the CRUD endpoints for your entities. Implement the appropriate HTTP methods (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE) and perform actions on the core services accordingly.

Make sure to update the routes, validation, and error-handling logic to align with your application requirements and best practices. Note: This article has been written by Kawser Hamid and republished on MudMatter with Author’s Permission. Please find the original link here – Clean Structured API Project – ASP.NET Core.

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