What kind of ASP.NET Web Site project i should choose? - c#

I want to build a web application using Azure.
The service will be call MessagingService.
The service need also use Twilio rest to execute automated voice messages.
The service will have one client that will send him HTTP post data request.
The service will need to translate that request to messages and make an out-bounded calls using Twilio rest. I need that my service will have a domain name because that what Twilio demand to use there service. I want also that the service can perform auto scaling. At first I want to build this app using ASP.NET MVC but I cannot see the need of using view at my service because it is just needed to do some background tasks so i don't now how to build it because MVC is model view controller and I dont need view for this? My limitation is that I need it will have a domain that I can use Twilio. Thanks.

sounds to me you want a WEB api v2. With the build-in publish method from VS, you can easily publish to azure, or choose for CI/CD with Jenkins for example. With azure you can handle the scale out (more instances) or scale up (more resources). This has no impact for you choice of API.
Have you looked at .NET core? You have a lot of standard built-in function with DI etc.

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Examples showing conversion of a WCF REST service to ASP.NET OWIN?

I've got a stand alone WCF service providing REST services. As time goes on, I'm feeling like MS is going to reduce support for WCF and REST services, and I've already had to code in a bunch of hacks to get somethings working like CORS. Additionally, implementing https is another hack since it requires using OS functionality. (i.e. you have to install the certificate using an external application, which doesnt' make the service very self contained)
In anycase, I'm considering either a move to ASP.NET REST API and OWIN, or Java/Spring. I wanted to first see what it would take to move to ASP.NET REST, since I figured that should take the smallest amount of work, but I haven't found any good examples.
There's a pretty straightforward example on the asp.net site.
http://www.asp.net/web-api/overview/hosting-aspnet-web-api/use-owin-to-self-host-web-api
setup a self-contained project i.e console app or windows service
initialise and setup you routes
create your Controller / API stubs
deploy
Regarding SSL, whether it's IIS or Apache you will have to configure it on the web server regardless.

c# webAPI response type usage between client and server

As a quick run-through, i've got the following scenario
Website which hosts c# web api services
each webapi takes a 'request' message type and returns a 'response' message type
Also a winforms client app which has its own repository that consumes the webapi services for its own use.
Is it good practice to put the request/response messages in a shared library which will be used by both the website, and by the client app bearing in mind if i update the webapi on the website, it could get out of sync with the distributed client apps, and may break functionality for them until they upgrade to the latest version.
thanks for any suggestions.
If you cannot force your clients to update to the latest version, I would create a new endpoint with a corresponding shared library for each breaking change.
http://yourservice/api/v1/GetXY
http://yourservice/api/v2/GetXY
http://yourservice/api/v3/GetXY
....
And you could set up monitoring to see which old/obsolete endpoint is not in use anymore and turn it off if you want.

Looking to create a webservice for client authentication and need some advice

I am developing an android application to accommodate some desktop software that I created. I would like for the user of the mobile app to have to verify their identity through authentication. Basically the web service will have to act as a central hub to both authenticate and hold information that the android app will need. The way I think it should work is to
-Set up a central web service
-Allow user to create account from desktop client using email/password
-The desktop client will send the information to the webservice that the android app will need.
-when android app is authenticated it will then retrieve the data it needs that was posted from the client.
So basically the service will need to be able to send and receive data.
I will only be using .net (either C# or vb.net ) for the service, so this leads me to a couple of questions:
Should I be using WCF for this? If so should I create a WCF Service library or WCF Service application?
Should I be using the Sign Sign on service approach?
The web service doesn't need to be fancy it just needs to get the job done. Is their any boilerplate project templates or projects out their I could use to help build a foundation?
I recently discovered SudzC.com which generates classes and methods for Objective-C from the wsdl data of a .net web service, and I'm fairly sure it also does Android.
I have a huge catalog of fairly 'old' web services which pre-date WCF and they are currently working perfectly.
I should point out though that the SudzC service only shows you what it can do for you for free - to get the code you have to pay ~£20 for a one year pass.
We had something similar where I worked. We had to put together an Android app for the company. If you are on .net 4.0 or newer, you can take advantage of theWebApi. It can return json or xml. So, that means any platform can utilize it (desktiop, android, etc...). I found it extremely easy to use, with very little overhead.

Kendo + Web Api vs. MVC vs. Web Service Where to go?

I'm just starting a project where I would like to use Kendo UI (based on jquery) with C#. A few weeks ago I was successful in handling requests using Web Services (asmx), was pleased with the results and performance, and was able to create forms quickly.
Since this is a new project, I thought I could look into different concepts such as MVC and WebApi. I found MVC to be the most complicaded so I went for WebApi and started playing with controllers and requests. So far what I'm finding (don't judge me, I'm new to these new concepts), is that Web Service seems to be simpler and more flexible.
So I guess what I'm looking for is... what are the main advantages of using MVC vs WebApi and even vs Web Services. Are there any downsides to Web Services? Would it be a bad practice to have my data layer controlled by Entity Framework, all models defined, and my requests handled by Web Services?
Any clarifications are welcome. Thank you.
In a broader sense, Web API is used to create Web Services ! It uses HTTP as its standard for creating services (instead of SOAP like in asmx) as its more open and any type of client like a mobile app, desktop app, web app etc will understand HTTP protocol. Another advantage is that u can easily use JavaScript/jQuery to communicate with your Web API. With SOAP web services, its a nightmare!
Kendo UI and Web API is a great combination. We have recently created a mobile iPad app using this combination and it worked like a charm. We also used Entity Framework with oracle as back end DB and it never gave any issues.
Webservices are nice if you have the need for it. A need as in needing that logic/data in more than one different type of application (such as web, and a mobile app, and a desktop app). (Or if you want to sell the service you're providing)
Using a webservice for ONLY a website which you don't except to expand to other things is complete overkill.
Furthermore, the MVC framework and the Web Api framework are pretty similar except web api is used exclusively for webservices. Coding in both of them will be the difference between white bread and wheat bread.

Web Service or web API for connecting a windows application to MVC 4?

After searching the entire day about what I should use, I'm not sure what option would be best for my needs so I hope someone with more experience could help me out.
I have a winforms application (c#) and a ASP.NET MVC 4 web application (c#).
I wish to connect these, the goal is to send and receive data from the database which I use in the MVC 4 project, but from within the windows forms application. The data I send from the windows forms application to the database, is then used by the MVC 4 web application.
I am entirely new to web services / Web Api's so I can't really decide what option would be best. Any help would be much appreciated..
If you already created MVC4 project then you can add actions to any controller
and return JSON data like below :
public JsonResult GetCategoryList()
{
var list = //return list
return Json(list, JsonRequestBehavior.AllowGet);
}
or you can create new project of MVC4 and select WEBAPI template . It will create webapi project for you .It will create with example .so it will easy for to create webapi.In webapi it return data automatically convert to xml and json as per request
The WCF Web API abstractions map to ASP.NET Web API roughly as follows
WCF Web AP -> ASP.NET Web API
Service -> Web API controller
Operation -> Action
Service contract -> Not applicable
Endpoint -> Not applicable
URI templates -> ASP.NET Routing
Message handlers -> Same
Formatters -> Same
Operation handlers -> Filters, model binders
Other Links
If you have an MVC 4 App already, it would be better to use Web API (RESTful service)
I assume you have some knowledge in building REST API (understanding of POST, PUT, UPDATE stuff)
It is simple in configuration and usage. All what you need actually is to create a new controller like:
class MyApiController: ApiController {
public Post(SomeClass item) {
....connect to db and do whatever you need with the data
}
}
You'll also should configure routing for Api.
And then in your winForms app you can simply use HttpClient class to perform api call.
HttpClient aClient = new HttpClient();
// Uri is where we are posting to:
Uri theUri = new Uri("https://mysite.com/api/MyApi");
// use the Http client to POST some content ( ‘theContent’ not yet defined).
aClient.PostAsync(theUri, new SomeClass());
Take a look at some implementation details right here:
Web Api Getting Started
Get started with WCF is not so easy as with Web API.
Given the tags you've used, my guess is that you're deciding between SOAP Web Services and WCF. Given these two, I say to go WCF. SOAP web services (as implemented in Visual Studio) are the older technology; still serviceable, but WCF can do everything an older SOAP service can do (including look exactly like a SOAP service) and more.
If you have a web service that connects your web server to your database server (these two things should be on different machines; your web server is exposed to the world by necessity, while your DB server should be locked down like Fort Knox), I see no reason why you shouldn't use that same service as-is for an internal WinForms application (using a LAN/VPN to access the service layer on the DB server). For a WinForms application that must access the data over the Internet, I would recommend reimplementing the service as a WCF service supporting secure encrypted data transfer. You can also set up the service endpoint to only accept HTTPS connections, and thus simply run your existing service through SSL/TLS.
What you choose will primarily depend on how much time-resources you can commit to resolving the problem; moving to HTTPS is a fast fix requiring little if any code changes, while reimplementing in WCF will take more time but will allow additional security measures beyond a simple secure tunnel.
Or something lightweight like Nancy: http://nancyfx.org/
We had some issues with MVC4 WebApi stuff and ended up using ServiceStack on the server side JavaScript/AJAX for web clients and RestSharp for thick clients.
One of our specific issues was the inability to auto generate documentation, significant performance differences, and better support for unit/integration testing.
Rather than advocate specifically WCF, I'd recommend WCF Data Services or OData, with the stipulation that you'll need to secure it. If you go for pure WCF, you'll see that you'll end up creating a lot of code to handle retrieving the info from a database, and then sending that information right back out to your clients. It doesn't sound that bad, at first, but after about 30 entities in a database, you'll quickly grow tired of a pure WCF solution.
OData is great, it uses Entity Framework, and it quickly opens data manipulation for an existing database or one you are going to make. It will save you a ton of development time, if you can make your service secure. The format of the data response is flexible. There are plenty of client libraries ported for other programming languages as well.
The steps for securing a service are pretty simple. Always deploy to https. Any login or registration methods , need to be post methods, that return a token (Encrypted value), or a unique secret that can be encrypted and sent back for any subsequent requests. It's better to use the token, and have an expiration on the token.. because otherwise both your service and your app whether mobile or desktop, need to have a shared encryption / decryption method.

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