Quick summary: In this blog, we dive into building high-performance Web APIs with ASP.NET Core. Learn step-by-step how to set up a new API project, define controllers, and run your application. With cross-platform support, enhanced security, and scalable architecture, ASP.NET Core is a powerful choice for modern API development. Read on to master the essentials and more!
The early 2000s denote a substantial shift with the onset of the World Wide Web and Web API. That time witnessed API development, which allowed web applications to interact with each other over the Internet using HTTP protocols. It substitutes data and functionality via a standardized set of protocols. It acts as a bridge, allowing applications to interact without longing to comprehend each other’s internal details, regardless of their programming language or platform.
ASP.NET Core development services signify a shift from the conventional ASP.NET Web API framework to the modern, cross-platform, and lightweight approach with the emergence of .NET Core. It enables developers to build powerful, scalable RESTful APIs across various OSs while maintaining a familiar development paradigm. Core elements consist of integration of Web API functionalities and MVC within a consolidated framework and improved features like API versioning and built-in authentication.
Types of Web API
When you are partnering with ASP.NET Core development services, you can build REST, SOAP, and many other APIs. The primary type of Web API is RESTful API, which is further classified considering its design approach as controller-based API and minimal API. The key distinction between these two would be how endpoints are defined and managed, with the controller facilitating a more institutionalized approach and minimal API offering a lighter, more flexible syntax leveraging the lambda function.
REST APIs are widely used for their simplicity in using HTTP methods to interact with resources. On the other hand, SOAP APIs are more rigid and offer security and transaction support. GrahQL facilitates flexible query language, allowing clients to request the data they require exactly. ASP.NET Core development services help you build these APIs smoothly with its lightweight, high-performing framework, allowing quick development and easy scalability. So, let’s discuss the Web API types in detail, followed by the architecture and protocols of APIs.
Public API
A Public API, also known as an open API, is available for external developers to access and integrate with applications. Designed to encourage third-party interaction, it helps businesses expand their reach. By using a public API, the ASP.NET development company helps you integrate your application with external services, share data, and build a community around your product. It’s commonly used for applications like social media, payment systems, or data services.
Features of public APIs
- Open access to external developers
- Wide integration capabilities
- Community-driven innovation
- Limited security protocols
- Easily accessible documentation
- Scalable for large user bases
- Promotes brand visibility and growth
Private API
Private APIs are internal to an organization and are not available for external use. These APIs help streamline workflows and enhance internal system communication. They allow businesses to connect internal software components or enable secure access between departments, ensuring data consistency and operational efficiency. Private APIs are ideal for maintaining control and security while improving the functionality of backend services and microservices within a company.
Features of private APIs
- Restrictive access within the organization
- Ensures better security for sensitive data
- Optimizes internal processes
- Customized for specific internal needs
- Facilitates easier backend integration
- Promotes better system efficiency
- Protects intellectual property and business logic
Partner API
A Partner API is designed for specific, trusted external parties, offering controlled access to a system. ASP.NET Core development company in the USA use these APIs are typically used in business partnerships to allow for secure data exchange or integration. Partner APIs enable organizations to offer customized access to their partners for specific purposes, such as B2B transactions or collaboration on shared projects, while maintaining security and compliance standards.
Features of partner APIs
- Restricted access for selected partners
- Strong security features, like API keys
- Customizable to partner requirements
- Allows controlled data sharing
- Facilitates B2B integrations
- Often governed by service level agreements (SLAs)
- Improves collaboration between businesses
Composite API
Composite APIs combine multiple services or endpoints into a single API call. This is useful in scenarios where a user needs data from multiple sources, like a user profile that spans several systems. With composite APIs, ASP.NET development service providers in the USA help you reduce network overhead by grouping requests, improving efficiency, and simplifying client-server interactions. They’re especially useful in microservice architectures, where different services need to work together without multiple individual API calls.
Features of composite APIs
- Combines multiple API calls into one
- Reduces latency by minimizing network requests
- ptimizes performance for complex systems
- Works well with microservices architectures
- Simplifies data fetching across multiple services
- Enhances user experience by reducing API round trips
- Flexible for various data sources and integrations
Architecture and protocols of APIs
APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) are the crucial components that allow different software systems to communicate with each other, exchanging data and executing operations across different environments. The architecture and protocols of APIs are fundamental to how these interactions occur, defining how information flows between applications and ensuring data integrity, efficiency, and security.
From the underlying communication methods to the structure of data exchanges, the architecture and protocols of APIs help how developers build scalable and reliable systems. Understanding these protocols, such as RPC, SOAP, and REST, enables developers to choose the best approach for their specific use cases, ensuring optimal performance and functionality.
RPC (Remote Procedure Call)
RPC (Remote Procedure Call) enables one program to execute a procedure on another machine as if it were a local function call. This abstraction simplifies communication in distributed systems by hiding the complexity of network interactions. RPC can use various transport protocols, such as TCP or HTTP, and typically utilizes binary encoding formats. gRPC, a modern implementation of RPC, provides enhanced efficiency and support for streaming, making it ideal for high-performance applications.
SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol)
SOAP is a protocol for exchanging structured information in the implementation of web services. Unlike REST, which is typically lightweight, SOAP is a more rigid standard that uses XML for message formatting and typically relies on HTTP or SMTP for transport. SOAP offers built-in features for security, reliability, and transactions, making it ideal for ASP.NET development company in the USA to build enterprise-level applications where strict standards and robust error handling are critical, such as in banking or telecommunications.
REST (Representational State Transfer)
REST is an architectural style that uses standard HTTP methods like GET, POST, PUT, and DELETE for communication between clients and servers. It relies on stateless interactions and resources represented by URLs, offering simplicity and flexibility in the design of web services. REST is widely popular due to its scalability, ease of use, and compatibility with a range of data formats (e.g., JSON, XML). It is the go-to choice for ASP.NET core development company for building lightweight, high-performance APIs for web and mobile applications.
ASP.NET Core has become one of the most popular frameworks for building Web APIs due to its high performance, cross-platform capabilities, and modern features. With a modular design, enhanced security, and seamless integration with cloud services, ASP.NET Core is a powerful choice for developers seeking to create scalable, maintainable, and efficient APIs in today’s fast-paced tech landscape.
Benefits of choosing ASP.NET Core for Web API development
- High performance – ASP.NET Core delivers exceptional performance, outperforming many other frameworks, making it ideal for building fast and scalable Web APIs that can manage heavy traffic loads with ease.
- Cross-platform – Unlike its predecessors, ASP.NET Core is cross-platform, allowing developers to build Web APIs that run seamlessly on Windows, Linux, and macOS, expanding the deployment flexibility of applications.
- Built-In dependency injection – ASP.NET Core has native support for dependency injection, which promotes clean, maintainable code and facilitates easier testing and component management within your Web API.
- Modern framework – It leverages modern development practices such as asynchronous programming and lightweight middleware, improving both the developer experience and application performance.
- Security – With built-in features like OAuth, JWT authentication, and anti-CSRF measures, ASP.NET Core helps ensure your Web API is secure against common vulnerabilities, making it a reliable choice for sensitive applications.
- Scalability – Its modular and component-based architecture makes it easy to scale applications, allowing for better resource management and smoother operation as traffic and complexity increase.
- Rich ecosystem and community support – ASP.NET Core benefits from an extensive ecosystem and an active community, ensuring you have access to plenty of libraries, tools, and documentation for faster development.
- Integration with cloud services – With first-class support for Azure, ASP.NET Core allows seamless integration with cloud services, offering smooth scalability and managed services that are out of the box for Web API deployments.
Tutorial to build Web API with ASP.NET Core
Hire .NET Core developers as they follow a streamlined and efficient approach to creating scalable, high-performing applications by building Web APIs with ASP.NET Core. With a modular architecture and built-in tools like dependency injection, ASP.NET Core simplifies the process of handling HTTP requests, routing, and data serialization. By following a few key steps, developers can easily build RESTful APIs that are fast, secure, and easy to maintain. Whether you’re developing an enterprise-level application or a small microservice, ASP.NET Core provides the flexibility and speed to meet modern web development demands.
Step-by-step guide to building Web APIs with ASP.NET Core
Prerequisites
Before diving into API development, ensure you have the following tools installed –
- .NET SDK – Download the latest version of the .NET SDK from Microsoft’s official site.
- IDE – Visual Studio or Visual Studio Code with C# extension installed.
Step 1 – Create a new API Project
To create a new Web API project in ASP.NET Core, open your terminal or command prompt and run the following command –
This command generates a new ASP.NET Core Web API project named MyWebAPI. The -n flag specifies the project name. Once the project is created, navigate to the project director.
Step 2 – Run the app
To make sure your project was set up correctly and run your Web API, use the following command.
Your Web API will now be running, and you should see an output like this in your terminal.
Navigate to https://localhost:5001 in your browser to verify that the default template for the Web API is running, returning a “Hello World!” message or similar.
Step 3 – Create code – Define a controller
The next step is to create the actual logic for your Web API. Controllers in ASP.NET Core handle incoming HTTP requests. By default, the template creates a WeatherForecastController for demonstration.
To create a new controller, right-click on the Controllers folder (or use your preferred method) and add a new class called ProductController.cs.
Explanation of code
- The ProductController is marked with [Route(“api/[controller]”)] to define the base URL route.
- The GET method returns the list of products.
- The POST method allows you to add a new product to the list.
Step 4 – Test your API
Now that you have your controller set up, test the Web API using a tool like Postman or CURL.
- GET request
- URL: https://localhost:5001/api/product
- Method: GET
- Response: A list of products in JSON format.
- POST request
- URL: https://localhost:5001/api/product
- Method: POST
- Body: {“product”: “Headphones”}
- Response: The newly added product.
You can now interact with your API, retrieving and adding products via HTTP requests.
Step 5 – Customize and expand
From here, you can expand the API with additional features such as –
- Database Integration: Replace the static product list with a database (e.g., using Entity Framework Core).
- Validation: Add input validation using data annotations.
- Error Handling: Implement centralized exception handling to catch and return meaningful error responses.
By following these steps, you’ll have a simple, functioning Web API built with ASP.NET Core that can be scaled to fit your needs.
Building Web API with ASP.NET Core in 2025 and beyond
Building Web APIs with ASP.NET Core is a powerful way to create scalable, high-performance applications that meet modern development demands. The framework’s cross-platform support, exceptional performance, and built-in security features make it an ideal choice for top ASP.NET Core development company to build robust APIs for cloud-native applications, microservices, and enterprise solutions. By leveraging its simplicity and flexibility, developers can create secure, maintainable APIs that integrate seamlessly with diverse systems, ensuring their applications are future-ready and optimized for evolving and dynamic needs.