Blog
Mert Özen's blog posts on software development, backend, frontend, and DevOps.
Performance, Optimization and Closing the Series: Where to Go From Here?
We close the series: the basic principles of performance, the most common bottlenecks (like the N+1 query), not optimizing without measuring, a recap of what we learned, and where to go next.
API Versioning: Evolving Your API Without Breaking Old Clients
We cover how not to break old clients while evolving the API over time: what a breaking change is, why versioning is needed, the URL/header/query methods, and setting up versioning in .NET.
Model Validation: Validating Incoming Data with Data Annotations and FluentValidation
We cover validating incoming data: defining quick rules with Data Annotations, the automatic validation of [ApiController], and FluentValidation for complex rules. What to choose and when?
What Is a DTO and Why Shouldn't We Return the Entity Directly?
We cover what DTOs are and why you shouldn't return database objects directly: the concrete benefits of using DTOs for security, privacy, flexibility, and contract stability.
Model Binding: Binding Request Data to Your Method (Route, Query, Body, Header)
We cover how .NET automatically binds request data to your method parameters: reading from the route, query string, body and headers, attributes like [FromBody], and common mistakes.
HTTP Status Codes and Returning the Right Response: IActionResult and Results
We cover HTTP status codes and the ways to return the right response. Which code for which situation, the difference between IActionResult and Results, and small details that help API consumers.
Writing Your First Controller: Routing, Attributes and Action Methods
We write our first real controller. How routing works, what attributes do, how action methods are built, and how an incoming request reaches the right method, step by step.
Controllers or Minimal APIs? When to Choose Which
We compare two ways of writing endpoints in .NET 9: controller-based structure and Minimal APIs. When each makes sense and what the real difference is, made clear with examples.
Setting up the initial project: project structure, Program.cs, and a minimal hosting model.
We set up our first .NET 9 Web API project. We break down Program.cs line by line, and understand the minimal hosting model, the builder-versus-app split, and why middleware order matters.
Introduction to Web APIs with .NET 9: REST principles and why .NET?
The first article of the .NET 9 Web API series. We cover REST principles, resource-oriented thinking, HTTP methods, and why we chose .NET 9, in a plain, example-driven style.