Introduction to .NET 7 Minimal APIs
The release of .NET 6 brought about several exciting features and improvements, and one of the most exciting additions is the Minimal API. Minimal APIs make it easier than ever to create lightweight and efficient web applications in .NET. With its immense usefulness, I have started this .net 7 minimal API series and this is the first part of it.In this blog post, we'll take a closer look at what Minimal APIs are and how you can get started with them.
What are Minimal APIs?
Minimal APIs are a new way to build web applications using .NET. They are designed to be simple, lightweight, and highly productive. With Minimal APIs, you can create web endpoints with minimal code, making it an ideal choice for small to medium-sized projects, microservices, or scenarios where a traditional MVC framework might be overkill. There main advantages are :Reduced Boilerplate Code:
Lightweight:
Improved Performance:
Ease of Use:
Integration with Existing Code:
Getting Started with Minimal APIs
To get started with Minimal APIs, you'll need .NET 6 SDK and Visual Studio 2022 or your preferred code editor. Here's a step-by-step guide to creating a simple Minimal API:
Step 1: Create a New .NET 7 Project
You can create a new project using the following command:bashdotnet new web -n MyMinimalApi
And once selected, in the next step, keep the "Use controllers" checkbox unchecked.
Step 2: Define Endpoints
In your Program.cs file, you'll define your endpoints using C# 10's new top-level statements. For example, a simple "Hello, World!" endpoint might look like this:csharpvar builder = WebApplication.CreateBuilder(args);
var app = builder.Build();
app.MapGet("/", () => "Hello, World!");
app.Run();
Step 3: Run Your Application
You can run your application with the following command:Your Minimal API is now up and running! You can access it by navigating to http://localhost:5000 in your web browser.bashdotnet run