Roadmap › 1. .NET › Step 20
MVC
ASP.NET Core MVC (and Razor Pages)
The MVC pattern, request lifecycle, routing, controllers, model binding and validation, Razor views, layouts, tag helpers, view components, filters, state management, Identity and security.
What it is & where it is used
ASP.NET Core MVC is a framework for building server-rendered web apps using the Model–View–Controller pattern on top of the ASP.NET Core pipeline.
- Model — data and business rules (entities, view models, validation).
- View — the UI, written in Razor (
.cshtml— HTML + C#). - Controller — handles the request, calls services, picks a view or result.
The same framework also offers Razor Pages (page-focused: each .cshtml has a PageModel), Web API controllers (JSON, no views — next course) and Blazor (component-based UI in C#).
Interview focus areas: request lifecycle, routing, model binding/validation, filters, ViewData/ViewBag/TempData, partial views vs view components, tag helpers, authentication/authorisation, antiforgery.
Versions & history
| Version | Year | Highlights |
|---|---|---|
| ASP.NET MVC 1–5 | 2009–2013 | On .NET Framework / System.Web; MVC 5 + Web API 2 were separate frameworks |
| ASP.NET Core 1.0 | 2016 | Rewrite: cross-platform, Kestrel, built-in DI; MVC and Web API unified |
| ASP.NET Core 2.0 | 2017 | Razor Pages, Microsoft.AspNetCore.All metapackage |
| ASP.NET Core 2.1 / 2.2 | 2018 | [ApiController], HTTPS by default, GDPR features, SignalR, Identity UI as Razor Class Library |
| ASP.NET Core 3.0 / 3.1 | 2019 | Endpoint routing, Blazor Server, generic host, System.Text.Json |
| ASP.NET Core 5 / 6 | 2020 / 2021 | Minimal hosting model (WebApplication), Minimal APIs, hot reload |
| ASP.NET Core 7 | 2022 | Rate limiting, output caching middleware |
| ASP.NET Core 8 | 2023 | Blazor Web App (static SSR + interactivity), Identity API endpoints, keyed DI, AOT for minimal APIs |
| ASP.NET Core 9 | 2024 | MapStaticAssets (fingerprinted, compressed static files), built-in OpenAPI, HybridCache |
| ASP.NET Core 10 | 2025 | Ships with .NET 10 (LTS): validation for Minimal APIs, OpenAPI 3.1, passkey support in Identity, Blazor improvements |
Lifecycle
MVC request lifecycle (in order):
- Request arrives at Kestrel (possibly via IIS/Nginx).
- Middleware pipeline runs in registration order: exception handler → HSTS/HTTPS redirection → static files → routing → CORS → authentication → authorization → session → endpoints.
- Endpoint routing matches the URL to a controller action (conventional or attribute routes).
- Controller creation — the controller factory creates the controller via DI.
- Filter pipeline begins: authorization filters → resource filters (before) → model binding → model validation → action filters (OnActionExecuting).
- Action method executes and returns an
IActionResult(View(),RedirectToAction(),Json(), ...). - Action filters (OnActionExecuted) → result filters (OnResultExecuting).
- Result execution — for
ViewResult, the view engine finds the.cshtml, runs_ViewStart, layout, view, partials/view components, and writes HTML. - Result filters (OnResultExecuted) → resource filters (after).
- Exception filters handle unhandled exceptions from controller/action stages.
- Response flows back out through middleware to the client.
Razor view lifecycle: _ViewImports.cshtml (usings, tag helpers) → _ViewStart.cshtml (sets Layout) → view body renders → @RenderBody() in the layout → @RenderSection("Scripts", required: false).
Tools used to develop
- Visual Studio — MVC templates, scaffolding (controllers + views from a model), Razor IntelliSense, Browser Link, Hot Reload.
dotnet new mvc,dotnet new webapp(Razor Pages),dotnet aspnet-codegenerator(scaffolding CLI).- LibMan / npm — client libraries (Bootstrap, jQuery validation).
- ASP.NET Core Identity + scaffolded Identity UI.
- Browser DevTools, Fiddler, Postman — inspect requests.
- Glimpse-style diagnostics:
app.UseDeveloperExceptionPage()(default in Development), logging.