Building Web Applications with ASP.NET MVC: Hands-On

The MVC 3 Framework in ASP.NET

Architecture of ASP.NET MVC 3

• Identifying the components of MVC 3
• Benefits of an MVC 3 architecture
• Describing the MVC 3 request processing cycle

Preparing the environment

• Selecting the correct project type
• Structuring the project layout with areas
• Integrating test-driven development

Orchestrating Application Requests with Controllers

Defining controller architecture

• Differentiating controller types
• Delegating request processing to actions
• Initiating the response with action results
• Handling special cases with asynchronous controllers

Enhancing functionality

• Intercepting request processing through action filtering
• Generating advanced operations by extending core controllers
• Decorating actions with additional behaviours
• Testing controllers outside of the server

Mapping URLs for Request Routing

Formatting the MVC 3 URL

• Shortcomings of ASP.NET URLs
• Decoupling URLs from actions with routing
• Designing a URL schema to enforce consistency

Applying practical URL solutions

• Configuring static and dynamic routes
• Customising routing for search engine optimisation
• Verifying routing with test-driven development

Defining the Model

Navigating the model landscape

• Analysing the role of the model in different scenarios
• Constructing the N-tier architecture
• Improving application structure with dependency injection

Persisting the domain model

• Generating entity classes with Visual Studio Object Relational Designer
• Querying with LINQ to SQL
• Filtering data using properties

Generating the View with Razor

Streamlining view development with Razor

• Building compact, expressive views
• Integrating content and code
• Unit testing Razor views

Rendering the response with MVC 3 views

• Implementing dynamic views
• Streamlining the view structure with HTML helpers
• Creating custom HTML helpers
• Generating views using MVC 3 templates

Collecting data with forms

• Accessing submitted data
• Assigning validation rules to input fields
• Client-side vs. server-side data validation
• Reporting errors

Creating Responsive Interfaces with Ajax

The role of Ajax

• Building Web 2.0 functionality
• Benefiting from built-in support for Ajax

Leveraging the jQuery JavaScript library

• Bringing pages to life with jQuery
• Handling browser events asynchronously for faster responses
• Boost interactivity with special effects and animation

Communicating efficiently with JSON

• Serialising application data using JSON structures
• Developing JSON in controllers for Ajax
• Consuming JSON client-side in the view

Securing and Deploying the Application

Controlling access with authentication

• Managing Windows-based authentication
• Gathering user credentials with HTML-based forms

Restricting application access

• Shielding sensitive URLs
• Integrating role-based security
• Accessing user and role information in controllers

Packaging and distributing options

• Enhancing application performance with cache configuration
• Publishing the completed application