Introduction to ASP.NET Core
Learn what ASP.NET Core is, how it works, and the different types of applications you can build with it.
What is ASP.NET Core?
ASP.NET Core is Microsoft's modern, cross-platform, open-source framework for building web applications, REST APIs, and real-time services in C#. It is a complete rewrite of the older ASP.NET, designed from the ground up for performance and cross-platform deployment.
ASP.NET Core is just C# — classes, interfaces, collections, LINQ, and async/await are all used extensively throughout a typical ASP.NET Core application.
What You Can Build
MVC Web Apps
Full server-rendered websites with Razor views.
REST APIs
JSON APIs consumed by mobile apps, SPAs, or other services.
Real-Time Apps
Live chat and notifications using SignalR.
Minimal APIs
Lightweight APIs with minimal boilerplate, ideal for microservices.
How a Request Flows
Every incoming HTTP request travels through a configurable pipeline of middleware before reaching your application logic, and the response travels back through it in reverse.
FAQs
No — "ASP.NET" (without "Core") refers to the older, Windows-only framework. ASP.NET Core is the modern, cross-platform successor, and what this course teaches.
For building a Web API alone, no. For MVC apps with Razor views, basic HTML helps, though Razor syntax itself is straightforward C# mixed into markup.
Summary
- ASP.NET Core is Microsoft's modern, cross-platform web framework built on C#.
- It supports MVC apps, REST APIs, minimal APIs, and real-time apps.
- Requests flow through a configurable middleware pipeline before reaching your code.