Table of content
Reading
these MVC interview questions does not mean you will go and clear MVC
interviews. The purpose of this article is to quickly brush up your MVC
knowledge before you go for MVC interviews. This article does not teach MVC,
it’s a last minute revision sheet before going for MVC interviews.
If
you want to learn MVC from scratch, start by reading Learn MVC ( Model view controller) step by step 7 days or you can also start with my step by step MVC (Model
View Controller) video series from YouTube.
If
you want to learn MVC 5 in a short time i.e. 2 days a.k.a 16 hours below is a
video series for the same.
Need help to improve this article
I
have tried my level best to cover what questions i have faced in MVC
interviews. But i feel the below questions are not enough and in real MVC
interview's much more is asked. If you can share your question in the comment
below. I would love to incorporate them in this article so that others are
benefited.
If your question is great and i like it i will ship you a free copy of my .NET interview question book only in India ( sorry i am not so rich for outside countries).
If your question is great and i like it i will ship you a free copy of my .NET interview question book only in India ( sorry i am not so rich for outside countries).
MVC
is an architectural pattern which separates the representation and user
interaction. It’s divided into three broader sections, Model, View, and
Controller. Below is how each one of them handles the task.
·
The View is
responsible for the look and feel.
·
Model represents the
real world object and provides data to the View.
·
The Controller is
responsible for taking the end user request and loading the appropriate Model
and View.

Figure: MVC (Model
view controller)
There
are six broader events which occur in MVC application life cycle below diagrams
summarize it.

Image Courtesy: - http://www.dotnetinterviewquestions.in/article_explain-mvc-application-life-cycle_210.html
Any
web application has two main execution steps first understanding the request
and depending on the type of the request sending out appropriate response. MVC
application life cycle is not different it has two main phases first creating
the request object and second sending our response to the browser.
Creating the request object: -The request object creation has four major
steps. Below is the detail explanation of the same.
Step 1 Fill route: - MVC requests are mapped to route tables which
in turn specify which controller and action to be invoked. So if the request is
the first request the first thing is to fill the route table with routes
collection. This filling of route table happens in the global.asax file.
Step 2 Fetch route: - Depending on the URL sent “UrlRoutingModule”
searches the route table to create “RouteData” object which has the details of
which controller and action to invoke.
Step 3 Request context created: - The “RouteData” object is used to create the
“RequestContext” object.
Step 4 Controller instance created: - This request object is sent to “MvcHandler”
instance to create the controller class instance. Once the controller class
object is created it calls the “Execute” method of the controller class.
Creating Response object: - This phase has two steps executing the action
and finally sending the response as a result to the view.
The
MVC architecture is suited for a web application than Windows. For Window
applications, MVP, i.e., “Model View Presenter” is more applicable. If you are
using WPF and Silverlight, MVVM is more suitable due to bindings.
There
are two big benefits of MVC:
·
Separation of concerns
is achieved as we are moving the code-behind to a separate class file. By
moving the binding code to a separate class file we can reuse the code to a
great extent.
·
Automated UI testing
is possible because now the behind code (UI interaction code) has moved to a
simple .NET class. This gives us opportunity to write unit tests and automate
manual testing.
MVC
is an evolution of a three layered traditional architecture. Many components of
the three layered architecture are part of MVC. So below is how the mapping
goes:
Functionality
|
Three layered / tiered architecture
|
Model view controller architecture
|
Look and Feel
|
User interface
|
View
|
UI logic
|
User interface
|
Controller
|
Business logic
/validations
|
Middle layer
|
Model
|
Request is first
sent to
|
User interface
|
Controller
|
Accessing data
|
Data access layer
|
Data Access Layer
|

Figure: Three layered
architecture
MVC
6 is the latest version which is also termed as ASP VNEXT.
MVC 6
ASP.NET
MVC and Web API has been merged in to one.
Dependency
injection is inbuilt and part of MVC.
Side
by side - deploy the runtime and framework with your application
Everything
packaged with NuGet, Including the .NET runtime itself.
New
JSON based project structure.
No
need to recompile for every change. Just hit save and refresh the browser.
Compilation
done with the new Roslyn real-time compiler.
vNext
is Open Source via the .NET Foundation and is taking public contributions.
vNext
(and Rosyln) also runs on Mono, on both Mac and Linux today.
MVC 5
One
ASP.NET
Attribute
based routing
Asp.Net
Identity
Bootstrap
in the MVC template
Authentication
Filters
Filter
overrides
MVC 4
ASP.NET
Web API
Refreshed
and modernized default project templates
New
mobile project template
Many
new features to support mobile apps
Enhanced
support for asynchronous methods
MVC 3
Razor
Readymade
project templates
HTML
5 enabled templates
Support
for Multiple View Engines
JavaScript
and Ajax
Model
Validation Improvements
MVC 2
Client-Side
Validation
Templated
Helpers
Areas
Asynchronous
Controllers
Html.ValidationSummary
Helper Method
DefaultValueAttribute
in Action-Method Parameters
Binding
Binary Data with Model Binders
DataAnnotations
Attributes
Model-Validator
Providers
New
RequireHttpsAttribute Action Filter
Templated
Helpers
Display
Model-Level Errors
HTML
helpers help you to render HTML controls in the view. For instance if you want
to display a HTML textbox on the view , below is the HTML helper code.
<%= Html.TextBox("LastName") %>
For
checkbox below is the HTML helper code. In this way we have HTML helper methods
for every HTML control that exists.
<%= Html.CheckBox("Married") %>
Both
of them provide the same HTML output, “HTML.TextBoxFor” is strongly typed while
“HTML.TextBox” isn’t. Below is a simple HTML code which just creates a simple
textbox with “CustomerCode” as name.
Html.TextBox("CustomerCode")
Below
is “Html.TextBoxFor” code which creates HTML textbox using the property name
‘CustomerCode” from object “m”.
Html.TextBoxFor(m => m.CustomerCode)
In
the same way we have for other HTML controls like for checkbox we have
“Html.CheckBox” and “Html.CheckBoxFor”.
Routing
helps you to define a URL structure and map the URL with the controller.
For
instance let’s say we want that when a user types “http://localhost/View/ViewCustomer/”, it goes to the “Customer” Controller and
invokes the DisplayCustomer action. This is defined by adding an entry in
to theroutes collection using the maproute function. Below is the underlined code which
shows how the URL structure and mapping with controller and action is defined.
routes.MapRoute(
"View", // Route name
"View/ViewCustomer/{id}", // URL with parameters
new { controller = "Customer", action = "DisplayCustomer",
id = UrlParameter.Optional }); // Parameter defaults
The
route mapping code is written in "RouteConfig.cs" file and registered
using "global.asax" application start event.
Yes,
you can, you just need to make two entries with different key names and specify
the same controller and action.
This
is a feature introduced in MVC 5. By using the "Route" attribute we
can define the URL structure. For example in the below code we have decorated
the "GotoAbout" action with the route attribute. The route attribute
says that the "GotoAbout" can be invoked using the URL structure
"Users/about".
public class HomeController : Controller
{
[Route("Users/about")]
public
ActionResult GotoAbout()
{
return
View();
}
}
Most
of the time developers code in the action methods. Developers can see the URL
structure right upfront rather than going to the “routeconfig.cs” and see the
lengthy codes. For instance in the below code the developer can see right
upfront that the “GotoAbout” action can be invoked by four different URL
structure.
This
is much user friendly as compared to scrolling through the “routeconfig.cs”
file and going through the length line of code to figure out which URL
structure is mapped to which action.
public class HomeController : Controller
{
[Route("Users/about")]
[Route("Users/WhoareWe")]
[Route("Users/OurTeam")]
[Route("Users/aboutCompany")]
public
ActionResult GotoAbout()
{
return View();
}
}
By
using the ActionLink method as shown in the below code. The below
code will create a simple URL which helps to navigate to the “Home” controller
and invoke the GotoHome action.
<%= Html.ActionLink("Home","Gotohome") %>
We
can decorate the MVC action with the HttpGet or HttpPost attribute to restrict the type of HTTP calls.
For instance you can see in the below code snippet the DisplayCustomer action can only be invoked by HttpGet. If we try to make HTTP POST on DisplayCustomer, it will throw an error.
[HttpGet]
public ViewResult DisplayCustomer(int id)
{
Customer objCustomer = Customers[id];
return View("DisplayCustomer",objCustomer);
}
Sessions
can be maintained in MVC by three ways: tempdata, viewdata, and viewbag.

Figure: Difference
between tempdata, viewdata, and viewbag
·
Temp data - Helps to maintain
data when you move from one controller to another controller or from one action
to another action. In other words when you redirect, tempdata helps to maintain
data between those redirects. It internally uses session variables.
·
View data - Helps to maintain
data when you move from controller to view.
·
View Bag - It’s a dynamic
wrapper around view data. When you use Viewbag type, casting is not required.
It uses the dynamic keyword internally.

Figure: dynamic
keyword
·
Session variables - By using session variables we can maintain data from any entity
to any entity.
·
Hidden fields and HTML controls - Helps to maintain data from UI to controller
only. So you can send data from HTML controls or hidden fields to the
controller using POST or GET HTTP methods.
Below
is a summary table which shows the different mechanisms for persistence.
Maintains data between
|
ViewData/ViewBag
|
TempData
|
Hidden fields
|
Session
|
Controller to Controller
|
No
|
Yes
|
No
|
Yes
|
Controller to View
|
Yes
|
No
|
No
|
Yes
|
View to Controller
|
No
|
No
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
“TempData”
maintains data for the complete request while “ViewData” maintains data only from
Controller to the view.
“TempData”
is available through out for the current request and in the subsequent request
it’s available depending on whether “TempData” is read or not.
So
if “TempData” is once read it will not be available in the subsequent request.
Once
“TempData” is read in the current request it’s not available in the subsequent
request. If we want “TempData” to be read and also available in the subsequent
request then after reading we need to call “Keep” method as shown in the code
below.
@TempData[“MyData”];
TempData.Keep(“MyData”);
The
more shortcut way of achieving the same is by using “Peek”. This function helps
to read as well advices MVC to maintain “TempData” for the subsequent request.
string str = TempData.Peek("Td").ToString();
Partial
view is a reusable view (like a user control) which can be embedded inside
other view. For example let’s say all your pages of your site have a standard
structure with left menu, header, and footer as shown in the image below.

Figure: Partial views
in MVC
For
every page you would like to reuse the left menu, header, and footer controls.
So you can go and create partial views for each of these items and then you
call that partial view in the main view.
When
you add a view to your project you need to check the “Create partial view”
check box.

Figure: Create partial
view
Once
the partial view is created you can then call the partial view in the main view
using theHtml.RenderPartial method as shown in the below code snippet:
<body>
<div>
<% Html.RenderPartial("MyView"); %>
</div>
</body>
One
of the easiest ways of doing validation in MVC is by using data annotations.
Data annotations are nothing but attributes which can be applied on model
properties. For example, in the below code snippet we have a simple Customer class with a property customercode.
This CustomerCode property is tagged with a Required data annotation attribute. In other words if
this model is not provided customer code, it will not accept it.
public class Customer
{
[Required(ErrorMessage="Customer code is required")]
public string
CustomerCode
{
set;
get;
}
}
In
order to display the validation error message we need to use the ValidateMessageFor method which belongs to the Html helper class.
<% using (Html.BeginForm("PostCustomer", "Home", FormMethod.Post))
{ %>
<%=Html.TextBoxFor(m =>
m.CustomerCode)%>
<%=Html.ValidationMessageFor(m
=> m.CustomerCode)%>
<input type="submit" value="Submit customer data" />
<%}%>
Later
in the controller we can check if the model is proper or not by using the ModelState.IsValid property and accordingly we can take actions.
public ActionResult PostCustomer(Customer obj)
{
if (ModelState.IsValid)
{
obj.Save();
return View("Thanks");
}
else
{
return View("Customer");
}
}
Below
is a simple view of how the error message is displayed on the view.

Figure: Validations in
MVC
Yes,
we can; use the ValidationSummary method from the Html helper class.
<%= Html.ValidationSummary() %>
What
are the other data annotation attributes for validation in MVC?
If
you want to check string length, you can use StringLength.
[StringLength(160)]
public string FirstName
{ get; set; }
In
case you want to use a regular expression, you can use the RegularExpression attribute.
[RegularExpression(@"[A-Za-z0-9._%+-]+@[A-Za-z0-9.-]+\.[A-Za-z]{2,4}")]public string Email { get; set; }
If
you want to check whether the numbers are in range, you can use the Range attribute.
[Range(10,25)]public int Age { get; set; }
Sometimes
you would like to compare the value of one field with another field, we can use
the Compareattribute.
public string Password
{ get; set; }[Compare("Password")]public string
ConfirmPass { get; set; }
In
case you want to get a particular error message , you can use the Errors collection.
var ErrMessage = ModelState["Email"].Errors[0].ErrorMessage;
If
you have created the model object yourself you can explicitly call TryUpdateModel in your controller to check if the object is
valid or not.
TryUpdateModel(NewCustomer);
In
case you want add errors in the controller you can use the AddModelError function.
ModelState.AddModelError("FirstName", "This is my server-side error.");
It’s
a two-step process: first reference the necessary jQuery files.
<script src="<%= Url.Content("~/Scripts/jquery-1.5.1.js") %>" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="<%=
Url.Content("~/Scripts/jquery.validate.js") %>" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script
src="<%= Url.Content("~/Scripts/jquery.validate.unobtrusive.js") %>"
type="text/javascript"></script>
The
second step is to call the EnableClientValidation method.
<% Html.EnableClientValidation();
%>
It’s
a light weight view engine. Till MVC we had only one view type, i.e., ASPX.
Razor was introduced in MVC 3.
Razor
is clean, lightweight, and syntaxes are easy as compared to ASPX. For example,
in ASPX to display simple time, we need to write:
<%=DateTime.Now%>
In
Razor, it’s just one line of code:
@DateTime.Now
As
per Microsoft, Razor is more preferred because it’s light weight and has simple
syntaxes.
You
can use Windows or Forms authentication for MVC.
For
Windows authentication you need to modify the web.config file and set the authentication mode to
Windows.
<authentication mode="Windows"/>
<authorization>
<deny users="?"/>
</authorization>
Then
in the controller or on the action, you can use the Authorize attribute which specifies which users have
access to these controllers and actions. Below is the code snippet for that.
Now only the users specified in the controller and action can access it.
[Authorize(Users= @"WIN-3LI600MWLQN\Administrator")]
public class
StartController : Controller
{
//
// GET: /Start/
[Authorize(Users = @"WIN-3LI600MWLQN\Administrator")]
public ActionResult Index()
{
return View("MyView");
}
}
Forms
authentication is implemented the same way as in ASP.NET. The first step is to
set the authentication mode equal to Forms. The loginUrl points to a controller here rather than a
page.
<authentication mode="Forms">
<forms loginUrl="~/Home/Login" timeout="2880"/>
</authentication>
We
also need to create a controller where we will check if the user is proper or
not. If the user is proper we will set the cookie value.
public ActionResult Login()
{
if ((Request.Form["txtUserName"] == "Shiv") &&
(Request.Form["txtPassword"] == "Shiv@123"))
{
FormsAuthentication.SetAuthCookie("Shiv",true);
return View("About");
}
else
{
return View("Index");
}
}
All
the other actions need to be attributed with the Authorize attribute so that any unauthorized user making
a call to these controllers will be redirected to the controller (in this case
the controller is “Login”) which will do the authentication.
[Authorize]
PublicActionResult Default()
{
return View();
}
[Authorize]
publicActionResult About()
{
return View();
}
You
can implement AJAX in two ways in MVC:
·
AJAX libraries
·
jQuery
Below
is a simple sample of how to implement AJAX by using the “AJAX” helper library.
In the below code you can see we have a simple form which is created by using
the Ajax.BeginForm syntax. This form calls a controller action
called getCustomer. So now the submit action click will be an
asynchronous AJAX call.
<script language="javascript">
function OnSuccess(data1)
{
// Do something here
}
</script>
<div>
<%
var
AjaxOpt = new AjaxOptions{OnSuccess="OnSuccess"};
%>
<% using (Ajax.BeginForm("getCustomer","MyAjax",AjaxOpt)) { %>
<input id="txtCustomerCode" type="text" /><br />
<input id="txtCustomerName" type="text" /><br />
<input id="Submit2" type="submit" value="submit"/></div>
<%} %>
In
case you want to make AJAX calls on hyperlink clicks, you can use the Ajax.ActionLink function as shown in the below code.

Figure: Implement AJAX
in MVC
So
if you want to create an AJAX asynchronous hyperlink by name GetDate which calls the GetDate function in the controller, below is the code
for that. Once the controller responds, this data is displayed in the HTML DIVtag named DateDiv.
<span id="DateDiv" />
<%:
Ajax.ActionLink("Get Date","GetDate",
new AjaxOptions {UpdateTargetId = "DateDiv" })
%>
Below
is the controller code. You can see how the GetDate function has a pause
of 10 seconds.
public class
Default1Controller : Controller
{
public string GetDate()
{
Thread.Sleep(10000);
return DateTime.Now.ToString();
}
}
The
second way of making an AJAX call in MVC is by using jQuery. In the below code
you can see we are making an AJAX POST call to a URL /MyAjax/getCustomer. This is done by using $.post. All this logic is put into a function called GetData and you can make a call to the GetData function on a button or a hyperlink click
event as you want.
function GetData()
{
var url = "/MyAjax/getCustomer";
$.post(url, function (data)
{
$("#txtCustomerCode").val(data.CustomerCode);
$("#txtCustomerName").val(data.CustomerName);
}
)
}

Figure: Tracked in
AJAX
·
ActionResult is an abstract class while ViewResult derives from the ActionResult class.ActionResult has several derived
classes like ViewResult, JsonResult, FileStreamResult, and so on.
·
ActionResult can be used to exploit polymorphism and
dynamism. So if you are returning different types of views dynamically, ActionResult is the best thing. For example in the below
code snippet, you can see we have a simple action called DynamicView. Depending on the flag (IsHtmlView) it will either return a ViewResult or JsonResult.
public ActionResult DynamicView()
{
if (IsHtmlView)
return View(); // returns simple ViewResult
else
return Json(); // returns JsonResult view
}
Note: It’s difficult to remember all the 12 types. But some
important ones you can remember for the interview are ActionResult, ViewResult, and JsonResult. Below is a detailed list for your interest:
There
12 kinds of results in MVC, at the top is the ActionResult class which is a base class that can have 11
subtypes as listed below:
1. ViewResult - Renders a specified view to the response
stream
2. PartialViewResult - Renders a specified partial view to the
response stream
3. EmptyResult - An empty response is returned
4. RedirectResult - Performs an HTTP redirection to a specified
URL
5. RedirectToRouteResult - Performs an HTTP redirection to a URL that
is determined by the routing engine, based on given route data
6. JsonResult - Serializes a given ViewData object to JSON format
7. JavaScriptResult - Returns a piece of JavaScript code that can
be executed on the client
8. ContentResult - Writes content to the response stream
without requiring a view
9. FileContentResult - Returns a file to the client
10. FileStreamResult - Returns a file to the client, which is
provided by a Stream
11. FilePathResult - Returns a file to the client
ActionFilters
help you to perform logic while an MVC action is executing or after an MVC
action has executed.

Figure: ActionFilters
in MVC
Action
filters are useful in the following scenarios:
1. Implement post-processing logic before the
action happens.
2. Cancel a current execution.
3. Inspect the returned value.
4. Provide extra data to the action.
You
can create action filters by two ways:
·
Inline action filter.
·
Creating an ActionFilter attribute.
To
create an inline action attribute we need to implement the IActionFilter interface. The IActionFilterinterface has two methods: OnActionExecuted and OnActionExecuting. We can implement pre-processing logic or cancellation logic in
these methods.
public class
Default1Controller : Controller , IActionFilter
{
public ActionResult Index(Customer obj)
{
return View(obj);
}
void IActionFilter.OnActionExecuted(ActionExecutedContext filterContext)
{
Trace.WriteLine("Action Executed");
}
void IActionFilter.OnActionExecuting(ActionExecutingContext filterContext)
{
Trace.WriteLine("Action is executing");
}
}
The
problem with the inline action attribute is that it cannot be reused across
controllers. So we can convert the inline action filter to an action filter
attribute. To create an action filter attribute we need to inherit fromActionFilterAttribute and implement the IActionFilter interface as shown in the below code.
public class
MyActionAttribute : ActionFilterAttribute , IActionFilter
{
void IActionFilter.OnActionExecuted(ActionExecutedContext filterContext)
{
Trace.WriteLine("Action Executed");
}
void IActionFilter.OnActionExecuting(ActionExecutingContext filterContext)
{
Trace.WriteLine("Action executing");
}
}
Later
we can decorate the controllers on which we want the action attribute to
execute. You can see in the below code I have decorated the Default1Controller with the MyActionAttribute class which was created in the previous code.
[MyActionAttribute]
public class
Default1Controller : Controller
{
public ActionResult Index(Customer obj)
{
return View(obj);
}
}
Yes,
we can create our own custom view engine in MVC. To create our own custom view
engine we need to follow three steps:
Let’
say we want to create a custom view engine where in the user can type a command
like “<DateTime>” and it should display the current date and time.
Step 1: We need to create a class which implements the IView interface. In this class we should write the
logic of how the view will be rendered in the render function. Below is a simple code snippet for
that.
public class
MyCustomView : IView
{
private string
_FolderPath; // Define
where our views are stored
public string
FolderPath
{
get { return _FolderPath; }
set { _FolderPath = value; }
}
public void
Render(ViewContext viewContext, System.IO.TextWriter writer)
{
// Parsing logic <dateTime>
// read the view file
string strFileData = File.ReadAllText(_FolderPath);
// we need to and replace <datetime>
datetime.now value
string strFinal = strFileData.Replace("<DateTime>", DateTime.Now.ToString());
// this replaced data has to sent for display
writer.Write(strFinal);
}
}
Step 2: We need to create a class which inherits from VirtualPathProviderViewEngine and in this class we need to provide the
folder path and the extension of the view name. For instance, for Razor the
extension is “cshtml”; for aspx, the view extension is “.aspx”, so in the same
way for our custom view, we need to provide an extension. Below is how the code
looks like. You can see the ViewLocationFormats is set to the Views folder and the extension is “.myview”.
public class
MyViewEngineProvider : VirtualPathProviderViewEngine
{
// We will create the object of Mycustome view
public MyViewEngineProvider() //
constructor
{
// Define the location of the View file
this.ViewLocationFormats = new string[] { "~/Views/{1}/{0}.myview",
"~/Views/Shared/{0}.myview" }; //location and extension of our
views
}
protected override IView
CreateView(
ControllerContext controllerContext, string viewPath,
string
masterPath)
{
var physicalpath =
controllerContext.HttpContext.Server.MapPath(viewPath);
MyCustomView obj = new MyCustomView(); // Custom view engine class
obj.FolderPath = physicalpath; // set the path where the views will be
stored
return obj; // returned this view paresing
// logic so that it can be registered in the
view engine collection
}
protected override IView
CreatePartialView(ControllerContext controllerContext, string
partialPath)
{
var physicalpath =
controllerContext.HttpContext.Server.MapPath(partialPath);
MyCustomView obj = new MyCustomView(); // Custom view engine class
obj.FolderPath = physicalpath; // set the path where the views will be
stored
return obj;
// returned this view paresing logic
// so that it can be registered in the view engine
collection
}
}
Step 3: We need to register the view in the custom view collection.
The best place to register the custom view engine in the ViewEngines collection is the global.asax file. Below is the code snippet for that.
protected void
Application_Start()
{
// Step3 :- register this object in
the view engine collection
ViewEngines.Engines.Add(new MyViewEngineProvider());
…..
}
Below
is a simple output of the custom view written using the commands defined at the
top.

Figure: Custom view
engine using MVC
If
you invoke this view, you should see the following output:

In
MVC, we have the JsonResult class by which we can return back data in JSON
format. Below is a simple sample code which returns back a Customer object in JSON format using JsonResult.
public JsonResult getCustomer()
{
Customer
obj = new Customer();
obj.CustomerCode = "1001";
obj.CustomerName = "Shiv";
return Json(obj,JsonRequestBehavior.AllowGet);
}
Below
is the JSON output of the above code if you invoke the action via the browser.

HTTP
is the most used protocol. For the past many years, browser was the most
preferred client by which we consumed data exposed over HTTP. But as years
passed by, client variety started spreading out. We had demand to consume data
on HTTP from clients like mobile, JavaScript, Windows applications, etc.
For
satisfying the broad range of clients REST was the proposed approach. You can
read more about REST from the WCF chapter.
WebAPI
is the technology by which you can expose data over HTTP following REST
principles.
SOAP
|
WEB API
|
|
Size
|
Heavy weight because
of complicated WSDL structure.
|
Light weight, only
the necessary information is transferred.
|
Protocol
|
Independent of
protocols.
|
Only for HTTP
protocol
|
Formats
|
To parse SOAP
message, the client needs to understand WSDL format. Writing custom code for parsing
WSDL is a heavy duty task. If your client is smart enough to create proxy
objects like how we have in .NET (add reference) then SOAP is easier to
consume and call.
|
Output of WebAPI are
simple string messages, JSON, simple XML format, etc. So writing parsing
logic for that is very easy.
|
Principles
|
SOAP follows WS-*
specification.
|
WebAPI follows REST
principles. (Please refer to REST in WCF chapter.)
|
WCF
was brought into implement SOA, the intention was never to implement REST.
WebAPI is built from scratch and the only goal is to create HTTP services using
REST. Due to the one point focus for creating REST service, WebAPI is more
preferred.
How to implement
WebAPI in MVC
Below
are the steps to implement WebAPI:
Step 1: Create the project using the WebAPI template.

Figure: Implement
WebAPI in MVC
Step 2: Once you have created the project you will notice that the
controller now inherits from ApiControllerand you can now implement POST, GET, PUT, and
DELETE methods of the HTTP protocol.
public class
ValuesController : ApiController
{
// GET api/values
public IEnumerable<string> Get()
{
return new string[] { "value1", "value2" };
}
// GET api/values/5
public string Get(int id)
{
return "value";
}
// POST api/values
public void
Post([FromBody]string value)
{
}
// PUT api/values/5
public void Put(int id, [FromBody]string value)
{
}
// DELETE api/values/5
public void Delete(int id)
{
}
}
Step 3: If you make an HTTP GET call you should get the below results:

Figure: HTTP
To
detect if the call on the controller is a POST action or a GET action we can
use the Request.HttpMethodproperty as shown in the below code snippet.
public ActionResult SomeAction()
{
if (Request.HttpMethod == "POST")
{
return View("SomePage");
}
else
{
return View("SomeOtherPage");
}
}
Bundling
and minification helps us improve request load times of a page thus increasing
performance.
Web
projects always need CSS and script files. Bundling helps us combine multiple
JavaScript and CSS files in to a single entity thus minimizing multiple
requests in to a single request.
For
example consider the below web request to a page . This page consumes two
JavaScript files Javascript1.jsand Javascript2.js. So when this is page is requested it makes three request
calls:
·
One for the Index
page.
·
Two requests for the
other two JavaScript files: Javascript1.js and Javascript2.js.
The
below scenario can become worse if we have a lot of JavaScript files resulting
in multiple requests, thus decreasing performance. If we can somehow combine
all the JS files into a single bundle and request them as a single unit that
would result in increased performance (see the next figure which has a single
request).


Open BundleConfig.cs from the App_Start folder.

In BundleConfig.cs, add the JS files you want bundle into a
single entity in to the bundles collection. In the below code we are combining
all the javascript JS files which exist in the Scripts folder as a single unit in to the bundle
collection.
bundles.Add(new ScriptBundle("~/Scripts/MyScripts").Include(
"~/Scripts/*.js"));
Below
is how your BundleConfig.cs file will look like:
public class BundleConfig
{
public static void RegisterBundles(BundleCollection bundles)
{
bundles.Add(new ScriptBundle("~/Scripts/MyScripts").Include(
"~/Scripts/*.js"));
BundleTable.EnableOptimizations = true;
}
}
Once
you have combined your scripts into one single unit we then to include all the
JS files into the view using the below code. The below code needs to be put in
the ASPX or Razor view.
<%= Scripts.Render("~/Scripts/MyScripts") %>
If
you now see your page requests you would see that script request is combined
into one request.

If
you are in a debug mode you need to set EnableOptimizations to true in the bundleconfig.cs file or else you will not see the bundling effect in the page
requests.
BundleTable.EnableOptimizations = true;
Minification
reduces the size of script and CSS files by removing blank spaces , comments
etc. For example below is a simple javascript code with comments.
// This is test
var x = 0;
x = x + 1;
x = x * 2;
After
implementing minification the JavaScript code looks like below. You can see how
whitespaces and comments are removed to minimize file size, thus increasing
performance.
var x=0;x=x+1;x=x*2;
When
you implement bundling, minification is implemented by itself. In other words
the steps to implement bundling and minification are the same.
Areas
help you to group functionalities in to independent modules thus making your
project more organized. For example in the below MVC project we have four
controller classes and as time passes by if more controller classes are added
it will be difficult to manage. In bigger projects you will end up with 100’s
of controller classes making life hell for maintenance.

If
we can group controller classes in to logical section like “Invoicing” and
“Accounting” that would make life easier and that’s what “Area” are meant to.

You
can add an area by right clicking on the MVC solution and clicking on “Area”
menu as shown in the below figure.

In
the below image we have two “Areas” created “Account” and “Invoicing” and in
that I have put the respective controllers. You can see how the project is
looking more organized as compared to the previous state.

A
view model is a simple class which represents data to be displayed on the view.
For
example below is a simple customermodel object with “CustomerName” and “Amount”
property.
CustomerViewModel obj = new CustomerViewModel();
obj.Customer.CustomerName = "Shiv";
obj.Customer.Amount = 1000;
But
when this “Customer” model object is displayed on the MVC view it looks
something as shown in the below figure. It has “CustomerName” , “Amount” plus “Customer Buying Level” fields on the view / screen. “Customer
buying Level” is a color indicationwhich indicates how aggressive the customer
is buying.
“Customer
buying level” color depends on the value of the “Amount property. If the amount
is greater than 2000 then color is red , if amount is greater than 1500 then
color is orange or else the color is yellow.
In
other words “Customer buying level” is an extra property which is calculated on
the basis of amount.

So
the Customer viewmodel class has three properties
·
“TxtCustomerName”
textbox takes data from “CustomerName” property as it is.
·
“TxtAmount” textbox
takes data from “Amount” property of model as it is.
·
“CustomerBuyingLevelColor”
displays color value depending on the “Amount “ value.
Customer Model
|
Customer ViewModel
|
CustomerName
|
TxtCustomerName
|
Amount
|
TxtAmount
|
CustomerBuyingLevelColor
|
As
the name says view model this class has the gel code or connection code which
connects the view and the model.
So
the view model class can have following kind of logics:-
·
Color transformation logic: - For example you have a “Grade” property in
model and you would like your UI to display “red” color for high level grade,
“yellow” color for low level grade and “green” color of ok grade.
·
Data format transformation logic :-Your model has a property “Status” with
“Married” and “Unmarried” value. In the UI you would like to display it as a
checkbox which is checked if “married” and unchecked if “unmarried”.
·
Aggregation logic: -You have two differentCustomer and Address model classes and you
have view which displays both “Customer” and “Address” data on one go.
·
Structure downsizing: - You have “Customer” model with “customerCode” and “CustomerName”
and you want to display just “CustomerName”. So you can create a wrapper around
model and expose the necessary properties.
How can we use two ( multiple) models with a single view?
Let
us first try to understand what the interviewer is asking. When we bind a model
with a view we use the model dropdown as shown in the below figure. In the
below figure we can only select one model.

But
what if we want to bind “Customer” as well as “Order” class to the view.
For
that we need to create a view model which aggregates both the classes as shown
in the below code. And then bind that view model with the view.
public class CustOrderVM
{
public Customer cust = new Customer();
public Order Ord = new Order();
}
In
the view we can refer both the model using the view model as shown in the below
code.
<%= model.cust.Name %>
<%= model.Ord.Number %>
Display
mode displays views depending on the device the user has logged in with. So we
can create different views for different devices anddisplay mode will handle
the rest.
For
example we can create a view “Home.aspx” which will render for the desktop
computers andHome.Mobile.aspx for mobile devices. Now when an end user sends
a request to the MVC application, display mode checks the “user agent” headers
and renders the appropriate view to the device accordingly.

Model
binder maps HTML form elements to the model. It acts like a bridge between HTML
UI and MVC model. Many times HTML UI names are different than the model
property names. So in the binder we can write the mapping logic between the UI
and the model.

Note :- Do not get scared with the word. Its
actually a very simple thing.
Scaffolding
is a technique in which the MVC template helps to auto-generate CRUD code. CRUD
stands for create, read, update and delete.
So
to generate code using scaffolding technique we need to select one of the types
of templates (leave the empty one).

For
instance if you choose “using Entity framework” template the following code is
generated.

It
creates controller code, view and also table structure as shown in the below
figure.

It
uses Entity framework internally.
In
the controller you can override the “OnException” event and set the “Result” to
the view name which you want to invoke when error occurs. In the below code you
can see we have set the “Result” to a view named as “Error”.
We
have also set the exception so that it can be displayed inside the view.
public class HomeController : Controller
{
protected override void OnException(ExceptionContext
filterContext)
{
Exception ex = filterContext.Exception;
filterContext.ExceptionHandled = true;
var model
= new HandleErrorInfo(filterContext.Exception, "Controller","Action");
filterContext.Result
= new ViewResult()
{
ViewName = "Error",
ViewData = new ViewDataDictionary(model)
};
}
}
To
display the above error in view we can use the below code
@Model.Exception;
Please do read this
blog which has detailed steps of how model binders can be created using
“IModelBinder” interface: - Explain MVC model Binders?
What are the 3 main components of an
ASP.NET MVC application?
1. M - Model
2. V - View
3. C - Controller
In which assembly is the MVC framework defined?
System.Web.Mvc
Is it possible to combine ASP.NET webforms and ASP.MVC and develop a single web application?
Yes, it is possible to combine ASP.NET webforms and ASP.MVC and develop a single web application.
What does Model, View and Controller represent in an MVC application?
Model: Model represents the application data domain. In short the applications business logic is contained with in the model.
View: Views represent the user interface, with which the end users interact. In short the all the user interface logic is contained with in the UI.
Controller: Controller is the component that responds to user actions. Based on the user actions, the respective controller, work with the model, and selects a view to render that displays the user interface. The user input logic is contained with in the controller.
What is the greatest advantage of using asp.net mvc over asp.net webforms?
It is difficult to unit test UI with webforms, where views in mvc can be very easily unit tested.
Which approach provides better support for test driven development - ASP.NET MVC or ASP.NET Webforms?
ASP.NET MVC
What are the advantages of ASP.NET MVC?
1. Extensive support for TDD. With asp.net MVC, views can also be very easily unit tested.
2. Complex applications can be easily managed
3. Seperation of concerns. Different aspects of the application can be divided into Model, View and Controller.
4. ASP.NET MVC views are light weight, as they donot use viewstate.
Is it possible to unit test an MVC application without running the controllers in an ASP.NET process?
Yes, all the features in an asp.net MVC application are interface based and hence mocking is much easier. So, we don't have to run the controllers in an ASP.NET process for unit testing.
Is it possible to share a view across multiple controllers?
Yes, put the view into the shared folder. This will automatically make the view available across multiple controllers.
What is the role of a controller in an MVC application?
The controller responds to user interactions, with the application, by selecting the action method to execute and alse selecting the view to render.
Where are the routing rules defined in an asp.net MVC application?
In Application_Start event in Global.asax
Name a few different return types of a controller action method?
The following are just a few return types of a controller action method. In general an action method can return an instance of a any class that derives from ActionResult class.
1. ViewResult
2. JavaScriptResult
3. RedirectResult
4. ContentResult
5. JsonResult
What is the significance of NonActionAttribute?
In general, all public methods of a controller class are treated as action methods. If you want prevent this default behaviour, just decorate the public method with NonActionAttribute.
What is the significance of ASP.NET routing?
ASP.NET MVC uses ASP.NET routing, to map incoming browser requests to controller action methods. ASP.NET Routing makes use of route table. Route table is created when your web application first starts. The route table is present in the Global.asax file.
What are the 3 segments of the default route, that is present in an ASP.NET MVC application?
1st Segment - Controller Name
2nd Segment - Action Method Name
3rd Segment - Parameter that is passed to the action method
Example: http://pragimtech.com/Customer/Details/5
Controller Name = Customer
Action Method Name = Details
Parameter Id = 5
ASP.NET MVC application, makes use of settings at 2 places for routing to work correctly. What are these 2 places?
1. Web.Config File : ASP.NET routing has to be enabled here.
2. Global.asax File : The Route table is created in the application Start event handler, of the Global.asax file.
What is the adavantage of using ASP.NET routing?
In an ASP.NET web application that does not make use of routing, an incoming browser request should map to a physical file. If the file does not exist, we get page not found error.
An ASP.NET web application that does make use of routing, makes use of URLs that do not have to map to specific files in a Web site. Because the URL does not have to map to a file, you can use URLs that are descriptive of the user's action and therefore are more easily understood by users.
What are the 3 things that are needed to specify a route?
1. URL Pattern - You can include placeholders in a URL pattern so that variable data can be passed to the request handler without requiring a query string.
2. Handler - The handler can be a physical file such as an .aspx file or a controller class.
3. Name for the Route - Name is optional.
Is the following route definition a valid route definition?
{controller}{action}/{id}
No, the above definition is not a valid route definition, because there is no literal value or delimiter between the placeholders. Therefore, routing cannot determine where to separate the value for the controller placeholder from the value for the action placeholder.
What is the use of the following default route?
{resource}.axd/{*pathInfo}
This route definition, prevent requests for the Web resource files such as WebResource.axd or ScriptResource.axd from being passed to a controller.
What is the difference between adding routes, to a webforms application and to an mvc application?
To add routes to a webforms application, we use MapPageRoute() method of the RouteCollection class, where as to add routes to an MVC application we use MapRoute() method.
How do you handle variable number of segments in a route definition?
Use a route with a catch-all parameter. An example is shown below. * is referred to as catch-all parameter.
controller/{action}/{*parametervalues}
What are the 2 ways of adding constraints to a route?
1. Use regular expressions
2. Use an object that implements IRouteConstraint interface
Give 2 examples for scenarios when routing is not applied?
1. A Physical File is Found that Matches the URL Pattern - This default behaviour can be overriden by setting the RouteExistingFiles property of the RouteCollection object to true.
2. Routing Is Explicitly Disabled for a URL Pattern - Use the RouteCollection.Ignore() method to prevent routing from handling certain requests.
What is the use of action filters in an MVC application?
Action Filters allow us to add pre-action and post-action behavior to controller action methods.
If I have multiple filters impleted, what is the order in which these filters get executed?
1. Authorization filters
2. Action filters
3. Response filters
4. Exception filters
What are the different types of filters, in an asp.net mvc application?
1. Authorization filters
2. Action filters
3. Result filters
4. Exception filters
Give an example for Authorization filters in an asp.net mvc application?
1. RequireHttpsAttribute
2. AuthorizeAttribute
Which filter executes first in an asp.net mvc application?
Authorization filter
What are the levels at which filters can be applied in an asp.net mvc application?
1. Action Method
2. Controller
3. Application
[b]Is it possible to create a custom filter?[/b]
Yes
What filters are executed in the end?
Exception Filters
Is it possible to cancel filter execution?
Yes
What type of filter does OutputCacheAttribute class represents?
Result Filter
What are the 2 popular asp.net mvc view engines?
1. Razor
2. .aspx
What symbol would you use to denote, the start of a code block in razor views?
@
What symbol would you use to denote, the start of a code block in aspx views?
<%= %>
In razor syntax, what is the escape sequence character for @ symbol?
The escape sequence character for @ symbol, is another @ symbol
When using razor views, do you have to take any special steps to proctect your asp.net mvc application from cross site scripting (XSS) attacks?
No, by default content emitted using a @ block is automatically HTML encoded to protect from cross site scripting (XSS) attacks.
When using aspx view engine, to have a consistent look and feel, across all pages of the application, we can make use of asp.net master pages. What is asp.net master pages equivalent, when using razor views?
To have a consistent look and feel when using razor views, we can make use of layout pages. Layout pages, reside in the shared folder, and are named as _Layout.cshtml
What are sections?
Layout pages, can define sections, which can then be overriden by specific views making use of the layout. Defining and overriding sections is optional.
What are the file extensions for razor views?
1. .cshtml - If the programming lanugaue is C#
2. .vbhtml - If the programming lanugaue is VB
How do you specify comments using razor syntax?
Razor syntax makes use of @* to indicate the begining of a comment and *@ to indicate the end. An example is shown below.
@* This is a Comment *@
1. M - Model
2. V - View
3. C - Controller
In which assembly is the MVC framework defined?
System.Web.Mvc
Is it possible to combine ASP.NET webforms and ASP.MVC and develop a single web application?
Yes, it is possible to combine ASP.NET webforms and ASP.MVC and develop a single web application.
What does Model, View and Controller represent in an MVC application?
Model: Model represents the application data domain. In short the applications business logic is contained with in the model.
View: Views represent the user interface, with which the end users interact. In short the all the user interface logic is contained with in the UI.
Controller: Controller is the component that responds to user actions. Based on the user actions, the respective controller, work with the model, and selects a view to render that displays the user interface. The user input logic is contained with in the controller.
What is the greatest advantage of using asp.net mvc over asp.net webforms?
It is difficult to unit test UI with webforms, where views in mvc can be very easily unit tested.
Which approach provides better support for test driven development - ASP.NET MVC or ASP.NET Webforms?
ASP.NET MVC
What are the advantages of ASP.NET MVC?
1. Extensive support for TDD. With asp.net MVC, views can also be very easily unit tested.
2. Complex applications can be easily managed
3. Seperation of concerns. Different aspects of the application can be divided into Model, View and Controller.
4. ASP.NET MVC views are light weight, as they donot use viewstate.
Is it possible to unit test an MVC application without running the controllers in an ASP.NET process?
Yes, all the features in an asp.net MVC application are interface based and hence mocking is much easier. So, we don't have to run the controllers in an ASP.NET process for unit testing.
Is it possible to share a view across multiple controllers?
Yes, put the view into the shared folder. This will automatically make the view available across multiple controllers.
What is the role of a controller in an MVC application?
The controller responds to user interactions, with the application, by selecting the action method to execute and alse selecting the view to render.
Where are the routing rules defined in an asp.net MVC application?
In Application_Start event in Global.asax
Name a few different return types of a controller action method?
The following are just a few return types of a controller action method. In general an action method can return an instance of a any class that derives from ActionResult class.
1. ViewResult
2. JavaScriptResult
3. RedirectResult
4. ContentResult
5. JsonResult
What is the significance of NonActionAttribute?
In general, all public methods of a controller class are treated as action methods. If you want prevent this default behaviour, just decorate the public method with NonActionAttribute.
What is the significance of ASP.NET routing?
ASP.NET MVC uses ASP.NET routing, to map incoming browser requests to controller action methods. ASP.NET Routing makes use of route table. Route table is created when your web application first starts. The route table is present in the Global.asax file.
What are the 3 segments of the default route, that is present in an ASP.NET MVC application?
1st Segment - Controller Name
2nd Segment - Action Method Name
3rd Segment - Parameter that is passed to the action method
Example: http://pragimtech.com/Customer/Details/5
Controller Name = Customer
Action Method Name = Details
Parameter Id = 5
ASP.NET MVC application, makes use of settings at 2 places for routing to work correctly. What are these 2 places?
1. Web.Config File : ASP.NET routing has to be enabled here.
2. Global.asax File : The Route table is created in the application Start event handler, of the Global.asax file.
What is the adavantage of using ASP.NET routing?
In an ASP.NET web application that does not make use of routing, an incoming browser request should map to a physical file. If the file does not exist, we get page not found error.
An ASP.NET web application that does make use of routing, makes use of URLs that do not have to map to specific files in a Web site. Because the URL does not have to map to a file, you can use URLs that are descriptive of the user's action and therefore are more easily understood by users.
What are the 3 things that are needed to specify a route?
1. URL Pattern - You can include placeholders in a URL pattern so that variable data can be passed to the request handler without requiring a query string.
2. Handler - The handler can be a physical file such as an .aspx file or a controller class.
3. Name for the Route - Name is optional.
Is the following route definition a valid route definition?
{controller}{action}/{id}
No, the above definition is not a valid route definition, because there is no literal value or delimiter between the placeholders. Therefore, routing cannot determine where to separate the value for the controller placeholder from the value for the action placeholder.
What is the use of the following default route?
{resource}.axd/{*pathInfo}
This route definition, prevent requests for the Web resource files such as WebResource.axd or ScriptResource.axd from being passed to a controller.
What is the difference between adding routes, to a webforms application and to an mvc application?
To add routes to a webforms application, we use MapPageRoute() method of the RouteCollection class, where as to add routes to an MVC application we use MapRoute() method.
How do you handle variable number of segments in a route definition?
Use a route with a catch-all parameter. An example is shown below. * is referred to as catch-all parameter.
controller/{action}/{*parametervalues}
What are the 2 ways of adding constraints to a route?
1. Use regular expressions
2. Use an object that implements IRouteConstraint interface
Give 2 examples for scenarios when routing is not applied?
1. A Physical File is Found that Matches the URL Pattern - This default behaviour can be overriden by setting the RouteExistingFiles property of the RouteCollection object to true.
2. Routing Is Explicitly Disabled for a URL Pattern - Use the RouteCollection.Ignore() method to prevent routing from handling certain requests.
What is the use of action filters in an MVC application?
Action Filters allow us to add pre-action and post-action behavior to controller action methods.
If I have multiple filters impleted, what is the order in which these filters get executed?
1. Authorization filters
2. Action filters
3. Response filters
4. Exception filters
What are the different types of filters, in an asp.net mvc application?
1. Authorization filters
2. Action filters
3. Result filters
4. Exception filters
Give an example for Authorization filters in an asp.net mvc application?
1. RequireHttpsAttribute
2. AuthorizeAttribute
Which filter executes first in an asp.net mvc application?
Authorization filter
What are the levels at which filters can be applied in an asp.net mvc application?
1. Action Method
2. Controller
3. Application
[b]Is it possible to create a custom filter?[/b]
Yes
What filters are executed in the end?
Exception Filters
Is it possible to cancel filter execution?
Yes
What type of filter does OutputCacheAttribute class represents?
Result Filter
What are the 2 popular asp.net mvc view engines?
1. Razor
2. .aspx
What symbol would you use to denote, the start of a code block in razor views?
@
What symbol would you use to denote, the start of a code block in aspx views?
<%= %>
In razor syntax, what is the escape sequence character for @ symbol?
The escape sequence character for @ symbol, is another @ symbol
When using razor views, do you have to take any special steps to proctect your asp.net mvc application from cross site scripting (XSS) attacks?
No, by default content emitted using a @ block is automatically HTML encoded to protect from cross site scripting (XSS) attacks.
When using aspx view engine, to have a consistent look and feel, across all pages of the application, we can make use of asp.net master pages. What is asp.net master pages equivalent, when using razor views?
To have a consistent look and feel when using razor views, we can make use of layout pages. Layout pages, reside in the shared folder, and are named as _Layout.cshtml
What are sections?
Layout pages, can define sections, which can then be overriden by specific views making use of the layout. Defining and overriding sections is optional.
What are the file extensions for razor views?
1. .cshtml - If the programming lanugaue is C#
2. .vbhtml - If the programming lanugaue is VB
How do you specify comments using razor syntax?
Razor syntax makes use of @* to indicate the begining of a comment and *@ to indicate the end. An example is shown below.
@* This is a Comment *@
Implementing the Repository and Unit of Work
Patterns in an ASP.NET MVC Application
The Contoso University sample web application demonstrates how
to create ASP.NET MVC 4 applications using the Entity Framework 5 Code First
and Visual Studio 2012. For information about the tutorial series, see the
first tutorial in the series. You can start the tutorial
series from the beginning or download
a starter project for this chapter and
start here.
If you run into a problem you can’t resolve, download
the completed chapter and
try to reproduce your problem. You can generally find the solution to the
problem by comparing your code to the completed code. For some common errors
and how to solve them, seeErrors
and Workarounds.
In the previous tutorial you used inheritance to reduce
redundant code in the
Student
and Instructor
entity classes. In this tutorial you'll
see some ways to use the repository and unit of work patterns for CRUD
operations. As in the previous tutorial, in this one you'll change the way your
code works with pages you already created rather than creating new pages.
The Repository and Unit of Work Patterns
The repository and unit of
work patterns are intended to create an abstraction layer between the data
access layer and the business logic layer of an application. Implementing these
patterns can help insulate your application from changes in the data store and
can facilitate automated unit testing or test-driven development (TDD).
In this tutorial you'll implement a repository class for each
entity type. For the
Student
entity
type you'll create a repository interface and a repository class. When you
instantiate the repository in your controller, you'll use the interface so that
the controller will accept a reference to any object that implements the
repository interface. When the controller runs under a web server, it receives
a repository that works with the Entity Framework. When the controller runs
under a unit test class, it receives a repository that works with data stored
in a way that you can easily manipulate for testing, such as an in-memory
collection.
Later in the tutorial you'll use multiple repositories and a
unit of work class for the
Course
and Department
entity types in the Course
controller. The unit of work class
coordinates the work of multiple repositories by creating a single database
context class shared by all of them. If you wanted to be able to perform
automated unit testing, you'd create and use interfaces for these classes in
the same way you did for the Student
repository.
However, to keep the tutorial simple, you'll create and use these classes
without interfaces.
The following illustration
shows one way to conceptualize the relationships between the controller and
context classes compared to not using the repository or unit of work pattern at
all.
Code-first vs Model/Database-first
Database first and model
first has no real differences. Generated code are the same and you can combine
this approaches. For example, you can create database using designer, than you
can alter database using sql script and update your model.
When
you using code first you can't alter model without recreation database and
losing all data. IMHO, this limitation is very strict and does not allow to use
code first in production. This will be addressed in upcoming Microsoft
Code First Migrations. But for now it is not truly usable.
Second minor disadvantage
of code first is that model builder require privileges on master database. This
doesn't affect you if you using SQL Server Compact database or if you control
database server.
Advantage of code first is
very clean and simple code. You have full control of this code and can easily
modify and use it as your view model.
I can recommend to use code
first approach when you creating simple standalone application without versioning
and using model\database first in projects that requires modification in
production.
Code first
·
Very popular because
hardcore programmers don't like any kind of designers and defining mapping in
EDMX xml is too complex.
·
Full control over the
code (no autogenerated code which is hard to modify).
·
General expectation is
that you do not bother with DB. DB is just a storage with no logic. EF will
handle creation and you don't want to know how it do the job.
·
Manual changes to
database will be most probably lost because your code defines the database.
Database first
·
Very popular if you
have DB designed by DBAs, developed separately or if you have existing DB.
·
You will let EF create
entities for you and after modification of mapping you will generate POCO
entities.
·
If you want additional
features in POCO entities you must either T4 modify template or use partial
classes.
·
Manual changes to the
database are possible because the database defines your domain model. You can
always update model from database (this feature works quite good).
·
I often use this
together VS Database projects (only Premium and Ultimate version).
Model first
·
IMHO popular if you
are designer fan (= you don't like writing code or SQL).
·
You will
"draw" your model and let workflow to generate your database script
and T4 template to generate yout POCO entities. You will lose part of control
on both your entities and database but for small easy projects you will be very
productive.
·
If you want additional
features in POCO entities you must either T4 modify template or use partial
classes.
·
Manual changes to
database will be most probably lost because your model defines the database.
This works better if you have Database generation power pack installed. It will
allow you updating database schema (instead of recreating) or updating database
projects in VS.

You won't create unit tests in this tutorial series. For an
introduction to TDD with an MVC application that uses the repository pattern,
see Walkthrough:
Using TDD with ASP.NET MVC. For more information about the
repository pattern, see the following resources:
·
Using
Repository and Unit of Work patterns with Entity Framework 4.0 on the Entity Framework team blog.
Note There
are many ways to implement the repository and unit of work patterns. You can
use repository classes with or without a unit of work class. You can implement
a single repository for all entity types, or one for each type. If you
implement one for each type, you can use separate classes, a generic base class
and derived classes, or an abstract base class and derived classes. You can
include business logic in your repository or restrict it to data access logic.
You can also build an abstraction layer into your database context class by
using IDbSet interfaces
there instead of DbSet types
for your entity sets. The approach to implementing an abstraction layer shown
in this tutorial is one option for you to consider, not a recommendation for
all scenarios and environments.
What is POCO in Entity Framework?
POCOS(Plain
old CLR objects) are simply entities of your Domain.Normally when we use entity
framework the entities are generated automatically for you.This is great but
unfortunately these entities are interspersed with database access functionality
which is clearly against the SOC(Separation of concern).POCOS are simple
entities without any data access functionality but still gives the capabilities
all EntityObject functionalities
like
·
Lazy loading
·
Change tracking
ur
road map is to:
1. Create Models POCO
2. Create DBContext from
Entity Framework
3. Create Repositories (Pattern)
4. Create UOW (Unit Of Work pattern)
·
POCO Models will act
as data carriers and they are independent (stand alone). These classes don't
know anything about the DB.
·
Entity framework is an
ORM (object-relational mapper) that enables us to connect to the DB (SQL
server) and map DB to our models and vice versa. We can consider it as a
conduit.
·
Repository pattern
will expose the data retrieval, updating and saving of the data to our DB by
communicating with EF (Entity Framework), and to simplify and standardize the
way we work with retrieval, updating and saving.
·
Unit of work pattern
is to add all our repositories in one place, so we can do commit and unroll
multiple changes to our repositories.
But
why do we want to use all those patterns technologies? Well, the simple answer
is reusability
and maintainability, by decoupling the
classes from their behaviour and following the single responsibility principle.

The Entity Framework enables you to use
custom data classes together with your data model without making any
modifications to the data classes themselves. This means that you can use
"plain-old" CLR objects (POCO), such as existing domain objects, with
your data model. These POCO data classes (also known as
persistence-ignorant objects), which are mapped to entities that are defined in
a data model, support most of the same query, insert, update, and delete
behaviors as entity types that are generated by the Entity Data Model tools.
Mapping Requirements
To use POCO entities with a data model, the name of
the entity type must be the same as the custom data class, and each property of
the entity type must map to a public property of the custom data class. The
names of the types and each of the mapped properties must be equivalent. For
information on how to modify entities in a conceptual model, see How to: Create and Modify Entity Types.
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