There is a massive choice of web frameworks that allow developers to build REST web services. One such framework is ASP.NET Core on .NET Core 3.1. .NET Core 3.1 provides a new, lightweight, cross-platform and opensource way to build web applications. Most importantly, it is designed to be cloud-ready: the framework is no longer part of the server, unlike in .NET Framework; instead, it is shipped with the application.
Another key point is that .NET Core maintains a high level of modularity, which adheres to the Unix philosophy and allows you to use only what you need in tailored applications. ASP.NET Core also introduces two new hosting solutions for web applications and web services:
- Kestrel: The default HTTP server for ASP.NET Core. It supports HTTPS and web sockets, and it runs on Windows, Linux, and macOS. Kestrel is usually combined with a reverse-proxy, such as NGINX, IIS, or Apache.
- HTTP.sys: A Windows-only HTTP server that can be used as an alternative to Kestrel on Windows.
ASP.NET Core and .NET Core are developed by Microsoft and the community, and they are open source projects. In the case of ASP.NET Core, open source isn't just a buzzword; all the features are community-driven, and the ASP.NET team streams a community standup video on YouTube every week, in which they discuss roadmaps, deadlines, and issues. All the .NET Core code is available on GitHub at the following links:
- .NET Core: The repository of .NET Core (https://github.com/dotnet/core)
- ASP.NET Core: Contains all the references to ASP.NET Core projects (https://github.com/aspnet/AspNetCore)
All the repositories usually come with a roadmap and some contributing guidelines. It is possible to open issues and contribute to the code base. Microsoft has also founded the .NET foundation, an independent organization that fosters open development and collaboration around the .NET ecosystem.
The ASP.NET Core team is also focused on the performance of the framework. All the benchmark results are available on GitHub: https://github.com/aspnet/benchmarks.