Welcome to this comprehensive tutorial on getting started with ASP.NET Core in Visual Studio 2026. In this guide, we'll walk you through the process of creating a new ASP.NET Core project, exploring its key features, and understanding how to leverage this powerful framework for modern web development.
ASP.NET Core is a cross-platform, high-performance, open-source framework for building web applications and services. With Visual Studio 2026, you'll have an intuitive and feature-rich development environment at your fingertips. Let's dive in and start building your next web application!
Setting up a new ASP.NET Core project in Visual Studio 2026
Before we begin, ensure you have Visual Studio 2026 installed with the ASP.NET and web development workload. To start a new project, open Visual Studio and follow these steps:
1. Go to 'File' > 'New' > 'Project' to open the 'Create a new project' window.
2. In the search bar, type 'ASP.NET Core Web Application' to filter the templates and select it.
Choose your project template
ASP.NET Core offers several project templates. For this tutorial, we recommend using the 'Web Application' template with 'Razor Pages' for a balanced learning experience. You can switch between templates based on your project requirements later on.
3. Name your project (e.g., 'MyFirstWebApp'), choose a location, and click 'Create' to generate the project.
Configuring the project and solution
By default, Visual Studio creates a solution (.sln) file and an ASP.NET Core Web Application (.csproj) file. The solution contains the project, while the .csproj file contains the project's metadata and configuration. You can easily manage and build your project using these files.
Exploring ASP.NET Core's key features
Now that you have a new ASP.NET Core project, let's examine some of the framework's essential features that make it an excellent choice for modern web development.
1. **Cross-platform and open-source:** ASP.NET Core is built on .NET and runs on multiple platforms, including Windows, Linux, and macOS. It's also open-source, allowing developers to contribute to its development and benefit from a large community.
Modules and dependencies
ASP.NET Core follows a modular architecture, with each feature or functionality represented as a separate package. This approach allows for better control and customization, making it easy to include or exclude specific features based on your project requirements.
2. **Performance and lightweight:** ASP.NET Core is designed to be stateless and modular, resulting in improved performance, reduced memory consumption, and easier scaling. It also supports modern web infrastructures like containers and Kubernetes.
Built-in middleware
Middleware in ASP.NET Core is a critical component that allows you to execute code before or after the main request handling. It enables you to perform essential tasks like authentication, authorization, and request routing. Some middleware are preconfigured, while others can be added or customized based on your needs.
3. **Scalability and production-ready:** ASP.NET Core is designed to handle multiple requests efficiently, making it highly scalable. It also comes with built-in tools and features for production readiness, such as health checks, environment variables, and cookie-based authentication.
Hosted services and background tasks
ASP.NET Core supports background tasks and hosted services, allowing you to offload long-running or time-consuming operations from the main request processing. This improves the performance and responsiveness of your web application.
Building your first ASP.NET Core web application
In this section, we'll guide you through creating a simple ASP.NET Core web application with Razor Pages. Razor Pages is a server-side-markup page model that allows you to mix code and markup within a single page file. it offers a lightweight and straightforward way to build web applications.
1. Add a new Razor Page to your project by right-clicking on the 'Pages' folder and selecting 'Add > Razor Page'. Name the page 'Index.cshtml', which will serve as the home page of your application.
Understanding the Razor Page structure
A Razor Page contains three main sections: the page model (code-behind), the page's markup, and any associated styles or layouts. The code-behind section, usually named 'Index.cs', is where you'll place your server-side C# code and handle page-specific functionality.
2. To add content to your web page, open the 'Index.cshtml' file and replace the existing markup with:
```html @page @model MyFirstWebApp.Pages.IndexModel @{ ViewData["Title"] = "Home page"; }
Welcome to @ViewData["Title"]!
```
The '@page' directive tells ASP.NET Core to use this page as the home page, while '@model' sets the page's data context. Inside the @{ } block, you can write C# code to generate dynamic content.
Testing your ASP.NET Core web application
To see your web application in action, click the green play button or press Ctrl + F5 (Windows) or Cmd + Return (macOS) to start the application. Your web browser should open with the home page displaying the message "Welcome to Home page!".
Congratulations! You've just created and tested your first ASP.NET Core web application using Visual Studio 2026. This marks an essential step in your journey to becoming proficient in ASP.NET Core development.
Now that you have a solid foundation, you're ready to explore more features and functionalities offered by ASP.NET Core and Visual Studio 2026. Happy coding, and we look forward to your future web development endeavors!