Summary

The website provides a step-by-step guide on creating a new .NET Core 7.0 Web API project in Visual Studio 2022.

Abstract

The article is a comprehensive tutorial that guides the reader through the process of setting up a new .NET Core Web API project using .NET Core 7.0 and Visual Studio 2022. It begins by listing the necessary prerequisites, including the installation of Visual Studio 2022 and the .NET 7.0 SDK. The guide then proceeds to detail the project creation process, from opening Visual Studio and selecting the ASP.NET Core Web API template to configuring the project settings and reviewing the default project structure. Key components such as the Program.cs file, appsettings.json, launchSettings.json, and the default WeatherForecastController are explained. The article emphasizes the importance of the Swashbuckle.AspNetCore package for enabling Swagger API documentation support, which is included by default in the template. The tutorial concludes with instructions on running the project and interacting with the API using Swagger or other tools like Postman.

Opinions

The author suggests that having the Swashbuckle.AspNetCore package installed and Swagger configured by default is beneficial for API documentation and testing.
The inclusion of the Enable OpenAPI support option is recommended for its utility in providing Swagger API documentation support.
The article implies that the default project structure, including the WeatherForecastController and its associated GetWeatherForecast method, serves as a good starting point for building APIs.
The guide is written with the assumption that readers will appreciate the centralized configuration in appsettings.json and the flexibility provided by launchSettings.json.
The author expresses confidence that following the provided steps will enable readers to create powerful and scalable APIs using the .NET Core framework.

Create New .Net Core 7.0 API Project in Visual Studio 2022

In this post, I will walk you through the step-by-step process of creating a new .Net Core Web API project using .Net Core 7.0

Install Prerequisites

Before we begin, make sure you have the following prerequisites installed on your machine:

If you have installed all the above prerequisites, let’s start creating a new project

Creating a new .Net Core Web API project

Open the Visual Studio 2022 on your machine and from the get start section click on Create a New Project. Then you will see a screen as below.

Create a New Project

From Search for templates type ASP.NET Core Web API select the template and click on Next

Select Project Template

From the next screen give the project name, select the project path, and give the solution name then click on the Next

In the next screen, you need to select the Framework. So select the framework as .Net Core 7.0 and click on the Create button.

Additional Information

In the above screen make sure the Enable OpenAPI support is checked. That will enable the swagger api document support.

Now you have the .Net core Web API project as follows

Basic Project Structure

You will see that Swashbuckle.AspNetCore package has been installed and swagger configuration has been added to the Program.cs by default

Before running the application will have a basic understanding of the files/folder in the project

Program.cs

The Program.cs file is a crucial part of the project structure. It serves as the entry point for the application and contains the Main method, which is the starting point for execution.

Entry Point:

The Program.cs file is where the application starts executing. When you run your Web API project, the Main method in Program.cs is the first code that gets executed. It sets up the environment and initializes the web host.

Web Host Configuration:

Within the Main method, you’ll typically find code that configures the web host for your application. The web host is responsible for managing the HTTP server, handling requests, and routing them to the appropriate controllers. It sets up the necessary services and middleware required to run the Web API project.

Appsettings.json

The appsettings.json file is a configuration file that stores various settings and configurations for the application. It provides a centralized location to manage and modify application-specific settings without modifying the code. It contains key-value pairs that represent different configuration settings for your Web API project. These settings can include database connection strings, logging configuration, third-party API keys, feature flags, and more. You can define and organize settings based on your application’s needs.

launchSettings.json

This file is used to configure how the application should be launched and debugged in different environments. It provides settings for various launch profiles, such as the development server, IIS Express, or custom external servers, and allows you to specify command-line arguments, environment variables, and other configuration options.

Controllers

In this folder, we can have the controllers that we need to create the API methods. You can see there is one controller as WeatherForeCastController.cs and also there is one API method as GetWeatherForecast

WeatherForecast.cs

This is a Model which is used in WeatherForeCastController.cs

Running the Project

Now let’s run the project.

You can click on the start icon as below screen or click the (ctrl+F5), then the swagger API document will open in the browser. Now you can try the default API using Swagger, CURL, or any other tool like Postman.

Swagger

Now we have successfully created a new .NET Core Web API project. In this blog post, we covered the essential steps, from installing the prerequisites to configuring the project. Now you can start building powerful and scalable APIs using the .NET Core framework. We will look into how to create new API endpoints in future posts. Happy coding!