ASP.NET Web API is a framework for building Web API’s, i.e. HTTP based services on top of the .NET Framework. The most common use case for using Web API is for building RESTful services.
These services can then be consumed by a broad range of clients like
These services can then be consumed by a broad range of clients like
- 1. Browsers
- 2. Mobile applications
- 3. Desktop applications
- 4. IOTs
One important thing to keep in mind is that, though ASP.NET Web API framework is widely used to create RESTful services, it can also be used to create services that are not RESTful. In short, ASP.NET Web API framework does not dictate any specific architeture style for creating services. In this video, we will discuss creating RESTful services from scratch using ASP.NET Web API framework.
What are RESTful services
REST stands for Representational State Transfer. REST was first introduced in the year 2000 by Roy Fielding as part of his doctoral dissertation. REST is an architectural pattern for creating an API that uses HTTP as its underlying communication method. The REST architectural pattern specifies a set of constraints that a system should adhere to. Here are the REST constraints.
Client Server constraint - This is the first constraint. Client sends a request and the server sends a response. This separation of concerns supports the independent evolution of the client-side logic and server-side logic.
Stateless constraint - The next constraint is the stateless constraint. The communication between the client and the server must be stateless between requests. This means we should not be storing anything on the server related to the client. The request from the client should contain all the necessary information for the server to process that request. This ensures that each request can be treated independently by the server.
Cacheable constraint - Some data provided by the server like list of products, or list of departments in a company does not change that often. This constraint says that let the client know how long this data is good for, so that the client does not have to come back to the server for that data over and over again.
Uniform Interface - The uniform interface constraint defines the interface between the client and the server. To understand the uniform interface constraint, we need to understand what a resource is and the HTTP verbs - GET, PUT, POST & DELETE. In the context of a REST API, resources typically represent data entities. Product, Employee, Customer etc are all resources. The HTTP verb (GET, PUT, POST, DELETE) that is sent with each request tells the API what to do with the resource. Each resource is identified by a specific URI (Uniform Resource Identifier).
What are RESTful services
REST stands for Representational State Transfer. REST was first introduced in the year 2000 by Roy Fielding as part of his doctoral dissertation. REST is an architectural pattern for creating an API that uses HTTP as its underlying communication method. The REST architectural pattern specifies a set of constraints that a system should adhere to. Here are the REST constraints.
Client Server constraint - This is the first constraint. Client sends a request and the server sends a response. This separation of concerns supports the independent evolution of the client-side logic and server-side logic.
Stateless constraint - The next constraint is the stateless constraint. The communication between the client and the server must be stateless between requests. This means we should not be storing anything on the server related to the client. The request from the client should contain all the necessary information for the server to process that request. This ensures that each request can be treated independently by the server.
Cacheable constraint - Some data provided by the server like list of products, or list of departments in a company does not change that often. This constraint says that let the client know how long this data is good for, so that the client does not have to come back to the server for that data over and over again.
Uniform Interface - The uniform interface constraint defines the interface between the client and the server. To understand the uniform interface constraint, we need to understand what a resource is and the HTTP verbs - GET, PUT, POST & DELETE. In the context of a REST API, resources typically represent data entities. Product, Employee, Customer etc are all resources. The HTTP verb (GET, PUT, POST, DELETE) that is sent with each request tells the API what to do with the resource. Each resource is identified by a specific URI (Uniform Resource Identifier).
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