What this book covers

This book is organized into multiple chapters that explain ASP.NET Core 2.0 features in an easy and understandable format with practical examples. Most of the key features of ASP.NET Core 2.0 are illustrated using succinct, efficient examples and step-by-step instructions yield immediate working results.

You don't have to read the chapters in any order to find the book useful. Each chapter stands on its own, except for the first chapter, which details the fundamentals of ASP.NET Core—you might want to read it first if you've never ventured beyond desktop application development.

The following topics will be covered throughout the book:

Chapter 1, What is ASP.NET Core 2.0?, describes the features and functionalities of ASP.NET Core 2.0, but also the technical restrictions, which should allow you to understand in which cases it could be a good fit for your own needs and what to expect.

Chapter 2, Setting Up the Environment, gives a detailed explanation of how to set up your development environment and how to create your first ASP.NET Core 2.0 application. You will learn how to either use Visual Studio 2017 or Visual Studio Code, how to install the runtime, and how to use Nuget to retrieve all necessary ASP.NET Core 2.0 dependencies.

Chapter 3, Creating a Continuous Integration Pipeline in VSTS, shows how to set up a complete Visual Studio Team Services (VSTS) Continuous Integration Pipeline. You will learn how to fully automate building, testing, and deploying your applications using VSTS in the cloud.

Chapter 4, Basic Concepts of ASP.NET Core 2.0 – Part 1, explains the basic structure and concepts of ASP.NET Core 2.0 applications. It shows how everything works internally and what classes and methods can be used to override basic behavior. It also provides the theoretical background for all the other chapters.

Chapter 5, Basic Concepts of ASP.NET Core 2.0 – Part 2, following up on the concepts covered in Chapter 4, Basic Concepts of ASP.NET Core 2.0 – Part 1, this chapter delves deeper into essential ASP.NET Core 2.0 concepts. You will learn about components and features offered by ASP.NET Core to build responsive web applications.

Chapter 6, Creating MVC Applications, provides all the concepts and everything necessary to create your first ASP.NET Core 2.0 MVC application. You will learn the specifics of MVC applications and how to implement them efficiently. Additionally, you will see how unit tests and integration tests will help you build better applications with fewer bugs, resulting in lower maintenance costs.

Chapter 7, Creating Web API Applications, covers the Web API Framework and provides everything essential to create your first ASP.NET Core 2.0 Web API. You will see different Web API styles, such as RPC, REST, and HATEOAS, and learn when to use them and how to implement them in an effective way.

Chapter 8, Accessing Data Using Entity Framework Core 2, shows how to access databases using Entity Framework Core 2, while using all the advanced features (Code First, Fluent API, Data Migrations, InMemory Databases, and more) it offers.

Chapter 9, Securing ASP.NET Core 2.0 Applications, explains how to use the built-in ASP.NET Core 2.0 features for user authentication and how to extend them by adding external providers. If you need to secure your applications, then this chapter is where you want to go.

Chapter 10, Hosting and Deploying ASP.NET Core 2.0 Applications, is about the various options you have when it comes to hosting and deploying your ASP.NET Core 2.0 web applications on premises and in the cloud. You will learn how to choose the appropriate solutions for a given use case, which will allow you to make better decisions for your own applications.

Chapter 11, Managing and Supervising ASP.NET Core 2.0 Applications, is finally going to be a chapter on how to manage and supervise your production-ready applications after deployment. It will greatly aid you in diagnosing problems for your ASP.NET Core 2.0 web applications during runtime and reduce the time to understand and fix bugs.