10 Essential Development Tips for ASP.NET Core

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ASP.NET Core is a powerful, modern framework for building web applications. Whether you are a beginner or an experienced developer, following best practices can improve your code quality, performance, and maintainability. Here are ten essential development tips to help you get the most out of ASP.NET Core.

1. Use Dependency Injection (DI) Effectively

Dependency Injection (DI) is a built-in feature in ASP.NET Core that helps manage dependencies efficiently. Always register your services in Program.cs and inject them via constructors instead of using new to create instances.

Example

public class MyService : IMyService
{
    public void DoSomething() { }
}

builder.Services.AddScoped<IMyService, MyService>();

2. Keep Configuration in appsettings.json

Instead of hardcoding values in your application, store them in appsettings.json and use the IConfiguration interface to access them.

Example

{
  "ConnectionStrings": {
    "DefaultConnection": "YourDatabaseConnectionString"
  }
}

var connectionString = _configuration.GetConnectionString("DefaultConnection");

3. Use Middleware for Cross-Cutting Concerns

Middleware allows you to handle requests and responses efficiently. Instead of writing repetitive code in controllers, use middleware for logging, authentication, exception handling, and request modification.

Example

app.Use(async (context, next) =>
{
    Console.WriteLine("Request: " + context.Request.Path);
    await next();
    Console.WriteLine("Response: " + context.Response.StatusCode);
});

4. Optimize Performance with Response Caching

Improve performance by enabling response caching. This reduces unnecessary processing and speeds up your application.

Example

app.UseResponseCaching();

[ResponseCache(Duration = 60)]
public IActionResult Index()
{
    return View();
}

5. Implement Global Exception Handling

Instead of handling exceptions separately in each controller, use a centralized exception handler.

Example

app.UseExceptionHandler(errorApp =>
{
    errorApp.Run(async context =>
    {
        context.Response.StatusCode = 500;
        await context.Response.WriteAsync("An error occurred.");
    });
});

6. Use Async Programming for Better Scalability

ASP.NET Core supports asynchronous programming, which improves scalability. Always use async and await when dealing with I/O operations.

Example

public async Task<IActionResult> GetData()
{
    var data = await _myService.GetDataAsync();
    return Ok(data);
}

7. Secure Your APIs with Authentication and Authorization

Always secure your APIs using authentication (who you are) and authorization (what you can do). Use JWT for API security.

Example

services.AddAuthentication(JwtBearerDefaults.AuthenticationScheme)
    .AddJwtBearer(options =>
    {
        options.Authority = "https://youridentityserver";
        options.Audience = "yourapi";
    });

8. Use Entity Framework Core Efficiently

When using Entity Framework Core, avoid loading unnecessary data. Use AsNoTracking() for read-only queries to improve performance.

Example

var users = await _context.Users.AsNoTracking().ToListAsync();

9. Enable Logging for Better Debugging

Use built-in logging to track issues. You can log to the console, a file, or external logging providers like Serilog.

Example

private readonly ILogger<HomeController> _logger;

public HomeController(ILogger<HomeController> logger)
{
    _logger = logger;
}

_logger.LogInformation("This is a log message");