ASP.NET Core in Action

Preface

ASP.NET has a long history—Microsoft released the first version in 2002 as part of the original .NET Framework 1.0. Since then, it’s been through multiple iterations, each version bringing added features and extensibility. But each iteration was built on the same underlying framework provided by System.Web.dll. This library is a part of the .NET Framework, and so comes pre-installed in all versions of Windows.

This brings mixed blessings. On the one hand, the ASP.NET 4.X framework is a reliable, battle-tested platform for building modern applications on Windows. On the other hand, it’s also limited by this reliance—changes to the underlying System.Web.dll are far-reaching and, consequently, slow to roll out. It also fundamentally excludes ...