Build a REST API in ASP.NET Core C#
Build a practical REST API in ASP.NET Core C# using a small product API. We cover the project structure, routes, status codes, validation, Swagger testing, and what to add before production.
Step-by-step workflow:
1. Create the project: dotnet new webapi -n ProductApi, then run cd ProductApi.
2. Run the API locally with dotnet run and open the Swagger/OpenAPI URL shown in the terminal.
3. Create the Product contract with Id, Name, Price, and Stock so the API response shape is clear before adding routes.
4. In Program.cs, add GET /products and GET /products/{id} first so you can test reads before writes.
5. Add POST /products and return Created with the new product location instead of a generic 200 response.
6. Add PUT /products/{id} and DELETE /products/{id}, then return NotFound when the product id does not exist.
7. Test the full loop in Swagger or curl: create, read, update, delete, then read again and confirm the final response is 404.
8. Before production, add persistence, validation, logging, authentication, and deployment instead of leaving the in-memory list as the final data store.
Related Halfstack AI videos:
Halfstack AI channel: / @halfstackai
Sources:
ASP.NET Core APIs overview: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/asp...
Minimal API tutorial: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/asp...
Controller Web API tutorial: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/asp...
#CSharp #DotNet #AspNetCore #RESTAPI #WebAPI #BackendDevelopment #DeveloperTools
Chapters:
0:00 REST API
0:20 API Shape
0:43 Create Project
1:05 Model
1:29 Endpoints
1:58 Storage
2:22 Test It
2:47 Mistakes
3:12 Recap
Subscribe for practical AI and developer workflows:
/ @halfstackai