Overview

This hands-on course immerses web developers in the world of .NET Minimal APIs, beginning with foundational concepts and progressing to advanced techniques. You'll learn to: - Create, manage, and optimize web projects, starting with prerequisites and setup. - Implement collection APIs with endpoints, data models, and database contexts, - Handle asynchronous results. - Improve APIs with POST operations, DTO models, AutoMapper, attributes, and exception handling. By the end, you’ll master GET, PUT, and DELETE operations for individual items. Designed for web developers with basic .NET knowledge, the course adopts a practical, step-by-step approach, ensuring skills that can be applied immediately. This course is perfect for those seeking to enhance their web development expertise with .NET Minimal APIs.

Syllabus

Introduction

In this module, we will introduce the course and provide an overview of the primary project you will be working on. You will learn how to navigate the course content effectively and understand the overall objectives and outcomes. We will also discuss the Campus Connect Minimal Web API project, outlining its scope and importance.

Getting Started with Minimal APIs

In this module, we will delve into the basics of Minimal APIs, exploring their definition, characteristics, and why they are used in modern programming models. We will compare them with Controller APIs to understand their unique advantages. Additionally, we will cover the necessary prerequisites for creating a web API, guide you through setting up a new web project, and explain the Map Get method that is created by default in new projects.

Implementing Collection APIs - Part 1

In this module, we will explore the implementation of collection APIs, focusing on enhancing Minimal APIs and managing individual item APIs. You will learn how to add new endpoints for listing items, create data models for course types, and use the Entity Framework database context class. We will also cover adding dependency injection and implementing the GET operation to fetch all entries in the collection, bringing together all previous implementations.

Implementing Collection APIs - Part 2

In this module, we will continue refining our collection APIs by focusing on result handling and asynchronous operations. You will learn how to return various result types from the Map method and update GET operations to handle errors appropriately. Additionally, we will explore asynchronous programming to enhance the performance and responsiveness of your APIs, culminating in updating the Map Get method to support asynchronous operations.

Improving Your Minimal API

In this module, we will explore various strategies to enhance the functionality and robustness of your Minimal API. You will learn to implement the POST operation to add new items, use DTO models to streamline data handling, and integrate Auto Mapper for efficient object mapping. Additionally, we will cover the use of attributes in Map methods and discuss methods to handle exceptions to ensure smooth API operations.

Implementing Individual Item APIs

In this module, we will focus on managing individual items within a collection by implementing GET, PUT, and DELETE operations. You will learn how to retrieve a single item, update an existing item, and delete an item from the collection, ensuring comprehensive CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) functionality in your Minimal API.

Conclusion

In this module, we will conclude the course by summarizing the essential concepts and techniques covered. You will be encouraged to apply what you've learned about Minimal APIs to your daily programming tasks, and we will highlight the practical benefits and improvements that come with using Minimal APIs in real-world projects. We will also reflect on your progress and skills developed, and provide guidance on potential next steps and additional resources for further learning and development. Congratulations on completing the course!