Step-by-step ASP.NET MVC Tutorial for Beginners | Mosh

Introduction

This tutorial will guide you through the basics of ASP.NET MVC, a powerful framework for building web applications. Perfect for beginners, it takes you through the architecture, setup, and key functionalities of ASP.NET MVC, using a step-by-step approach.

Step 1: Understand ASP.NET MVC Architecture

• ASP.NET MVC is based on the Model-View-Controller pattern.
• Model: Represents the data and business logic.
• View: Responsible for displaying the user interface.
• Controller: Handles user input and interacts with the model to render the view.
• This separation of concerns improves the organization and maintainability of your code.

Step 2: Set Up the Development Environment

• Download and install Visual Studio (Community Edition is free).
• Ensure you include the ASP.NET and web development workload during installation.
• Verify the installation by creating a new project and selecting the ASP.NET MVC template.

Step 3: Create Your First ASP.NET MVC 5 Application

1. Open Visual Studio and select "Create a new project."
2. Choose "ASP.NET Web Application" and click "Next."
3. Name your project and select the location, then click "Create."
4. Select the "MVC" template and click "Create."
5. Run the application using Ctrl + F5 to see the default template in action.

Step 4: Explore MVC in Action

• Understand how routing works by checking the RouteConfig.cs file.
• Access different controllers by modifying the URL in the browser.
• Review the basic folder structure: Controllers, Models, Views.

Step 5: Add a Theme

• Use a CSS framework like Bootstrap for styling.
• Add Bootstrap files by linking to a CDN in your layout view.
• Customize the layout to apply the theme across all pages.

Step 6: Work with Action Results

• Learn about different types of action results:
  • ViewResult: Returns a view.
  • RedirectResult: Redirects to a different action.
  • JsonResult: Returns JSON data.
• Example of returning a view:

  public ActionResult Index()
  {
      return View();
  }
  

Step 7: Use Action Parameters

• Pass data to actions using parameters.
• Example:

  public ActionResult Details(int id)
  {
      var item = database.Find(id);
      return View(item);
  }
  

• Ensure the parameter names match the query string or form data.

Step 8: Implement Convention-based Routing

• Convention-based routing uses predefined patterns to map URLs to controllers.
• Set up routes in RouteConfig.cs:

  routes.MapRoute(
      name: "Default",
      url: "{controller}/{action}/{id}",
      defaults: new { controller = "Home", action = "Index", id = UrlParameter.Optional }
  );
  

Step 9: Explore Attribute-based Routing

• Use attributes to specify routing directly on controller actions.
• Example:

  [Route("products/{id}")]
  public ActionResult Product(int id)
  {
      return View();
  }
  

Step 10: Pass Data to Views

• Use ViewBag or ViewData to send data from the controller to the view.
• Example using ViewBag:

  public ActionResult Index()
  {
      ViewBag.Message = "Welcome to ASP.NET MVC!";
      return View();
  }
  

Step 11: Create View Models

• View models are classes that contain data specifically for the view.
• Create a ViewModel class:

  public class ProductViewModel
  {
      public int Id { get; set; }
      public string Name { get; set; }
  }
  

• Use this ViewModel in your actions and views for strongly-typed data binding.

Step 12: Utilize Razor Views

• Razor is a markup syntax for embedding server code in web pages.
• Create a view using Razor syntax:

  @model ProductViewModel
  <h1>@Model.Name</h1>
  

Step 13: Implement Partial Views

• Partial views allow you to reuse view components.
• Create a partial view and render it in your main view:

  @Html.Partial("_ProductPartial", Model)
  

Conclusion

In this tutorial, you learned the core components of ASP.NET MVC, how to set up your environment, create a basic application, and implement key features. As next steps, consider diving deeper into more complex topics such as authentication, database integration, and advanced routing techniques. Happy coding!