ASP.NET Core Tutorial – Beginner to Advanced Projects

Introduction

This tutorial is designed to guide you through the process of mastering ASP.NET Core by building three distinct projects from scratch. You'll start with a simple full-stack project and progressively work your way up to more complex applications. By the end of this tutorial, you'll have a solid understanding of ASP.NET Core MVC and be equipped to create your own projects.

Step 1: Understand ASP.NET Core MVC Structure

• Familiarize yourself with the main components of ASP.NET Core MVC:
  • Models: Represent the data.
  • Views: Display the data to users.
  • Controllers: Handle user input and interact with the model.

Step 2: Set Up the Food Menu Web App Project

1. Create a new ASP.NET Core MVC project in Visual Studio.
2. Install necessary packages via NuGet:
   • Entity Framework Core for database interaction.
3. Set up the project structure:
   • Create folders for Models, Views, and Controllers.

Step 3: Create the Models

• Define the data structure for your Food Menu application:
  • Create a MenuItem model with properties such as Id, Name, Description, and Price.

public class MenuItem
{
    public int Id { get; set; }
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public string Description { get; set; }
    public decimal Price { get; set; }
}

Step 4: Create the Context

1. Create a DbContext class that inherits from DbContext.
2. Add a DbSet<MenuItem> property to the context for database operations.

public class ApplicationDbContext : DbContext
{
    public DbSet<MenuItem> MenuItems { get; set; }
}

Step 5: Connect the Project to the Database

• Configure your connection string in appsettings.json to connect to a SQL Server database.

"ConnectionStrings": {
  "DefaultConnection": "Server=(localdb)\\mssqllocaldb;Database=FoodMenu;Trusted_Connection=True;"
}

Step 6: Create the Controller and its Methods

1. Generate a MenuController using scaffolding in Visual Studio.
2. Implement CRUD methods (Create, Read, Update, Delete) within the controller to manage menu items.

Step 7: Add Data Manually to the Database

• Use the DbContext to add sample data to the database:

if (!context.MenuItems.Any())
{
    context.MenuItems.Add(new MenuItem { Name = "Burger", Description = "Juicy beef burger", Price = 5.99M });
    context.SaveChanges();
}

Step 8: Implement a Search Bar

• Add a search functionality in your view using a form:
  • Create a search input and button in the Razor view.
  • Modify the controller to filter results based on the input.

Step 9: Introduction to Google Docs Clone

• Start a new project based on your previous knowledge.
• Outline the features required for the Google Docs clone.

Step 10: Setting Up the Database for Google Docs Clone

• Create models to represent documents, such as Document with properties like Id, Title, Content, and CreatedDate.

Step 11: Create the Controller for Google Docs Clone

1. Generate a DocumentController.
2. Implement actions for viewing, creating, and editing documents.

Step 12: Import TinyMCE Library

• Include TinyMCE in your project to enable rich text editing:
  • Add the TinyMCE script in your layout or view file.

Step 13: Create the Index Page

• Display a list of documents on the index page using a table.
• Ensure each document links to its respective edit page.

Step 14: Setup the Stripe Web App

• Create a new project for handling payments with Stripe.
• Obtain your Stripe API keys and configure them in your project settings.

Step 15: Create Product Models for Stripe Web App

• Define a Product model with properties like Id, Name, Price, and Description.

Step 16: Store and Display Products

• Use Entity Framework to store products in the database and create an index page to display them.

Step 17: Implement Checkout Method

• Create a method to handle checkout processes using Stripe's API.
• Ensure to set up error handling for payment process failures.

Conclusion

Congratulations! You have completed the ASP.NET Core tutorial by building three projects. You now have foundational knowledge of ASP.NET Core MVC and practical experience with full-stack development. For further enhancement, consider exploring advanced features like authentication, authorization, and deploying your applications online. Happy coding!