Orchard Core is a powerful, open-source framework built on ASP.NET Core that empowers you to develop modular and multi-tenant applications. There are two target of Orchard the first one is the CMS target the second one is modular application. In this post we want to discuss how to develop modular application. If you want to build CMS target you can visit this video
Why Modular Architecture Matters
Modular design in application development encourages the separation of concerns. By packaging features into discrete modules:
Maintainability is improved, as individual modules can be updated without affecting others.
Scalability becomes less daunting—new features can be added with minimal disruption.
Collaboration is enhanced among teams, as developers can work on different modules concurrently.
Steps by Steps to Build Modular Application
Install the template. you can use the scrip
dotnet new install OrchardCore.ProjectTemplates::2.1.7-* --nuget-source https://nuget.cloudsmith.io/orchardcore/preview/v3/index.json
Create project orchard web application, to develop host web application. You just need one project for many modules
Create one or more project orchard web module. You can build one or more modules
Create one or more theme project. Theme project will help you create theme for each web
Best practices when working with Orchard Core
Start Small: Begin with a single module to grasp the framework’s structure. Once comfortable, you can incrementally add more functionality.
Utilize the Dashboard: Orchard Core’s admin dashboard is your control center. Use it to manage your modules, configure settings, and monitor site performance.
The basic idea is creating front end with module and integrate all back panel in admin dashboard
Embrace Dependency Injection: Orchard Core promotes decoupled modules. Inject dependencies properly to keep modules independent and testable.
Document Your Code:With modular applications, clear documentation helps team members understand interfaces and dependencies, which is key for collaborative development.
When building software in C# and .NET we need to create secure codes to make sure that the software is running well. Here are some keys steps to implement secure code:
Input validation. Always validate user input to prevent attacks like SQL injection and cross-site scripting (XSS).
using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
string userInput = GetUserInput();
if (!Regex.IsMatch(userInput, @"^[a-zA-Z0-9]*$"))
{
throw new ArgumentException("Invalid input");
}
Use Parameterized Queries: When accessing a database, use parameterized queries to prevent SQL injection.
using (SqlConnection connection = new SqlConnection(connectionString))
{
string query = "SELECT * FROM Users WHERE Username = @Username";
SqlCommand command = new SqlCommand(query, connection);
command.Parameters.AddWithValue("@Username", username);
connection.Open();
SqlDataReader reader = command.ExecuteReader();
// ...
}
Secure password. Store passwords using a strong hashing algorithm like SHA-256 or bcrypt.
using System.Security.Cryptography;
using System.Text;
string password = "YourPassword";
using (SHA256 sha256Hash = SHA256.Create())
{
byte[] bytes = sha256Hash.ComputeHash(Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(password));
StringBuilder builder = new StringBuilder();
for (int i = 0; i < bytes.Length; i++)
{
builder.Append(bytes[i].ToString("x2"));
}
string hashedPassword = builder.ToString();
}
always use HTTPS to encrypt data transmitted between the client and server. Configure your application to require HTTPS.
Authentication and Authorization. Implement robust authentication and authorization mechanisms using frameworks like ASP.NET Identity.
Handle Exceptions Securely. Avoid displaying detailed error messages to users. Log errors internally and provide generic error messages.
Regular security audits. Conduct regular security audits and code reviews to identify and fix vulnerabilities.
Keep dependencies up to date. Regularly update libraries and frameworks to patch known vulnerabilities.
secure configuration management by using tools like Terraform or Azure Resource Manager (ARM) templates to define and manage cloud resources securely.
Identity and Access Management (IAM) Use managed identities to secure access to cloud resources without hardcoding credentials.
Store sensitive information like API keys, connection strings, and certificates in secure vaults such as Azure Key Vault or AWS Secrets Manager.
Implement network security such as VNET isolation, network security group, and web application firewall
When developing an ASP.NET Core application, you have several choices for structuring your application into different layers. Here are some common choices for each layer:
Presentation Layer
ASP.NET Core MVC: This is the most common choice for building web applications with a clear separation of concerns. It uses the Model-View-Controller pattern.
Razor Pages: A simpler alternative to MVC, suitable for page-focused scenarios.
Blazor: Allows you to build interactive web UIs using C# instead of JavaScript.
Business Logic Layer
Web API Services: Typically, you create services that encapsulate your business logic. These services can be injected into your controllers or Razor Pages.
MediatR: A popular library for implementing the mediator pattern, which helps in decoupling business logic from the presentation layer.
Minimal API: fast HTTP API
Data Access Layer
Entity Framework Core (EF Core): The most widely used ORM in the .NET ecosystem. It provides a high-level abstraction for database operations.
Dapper: A lightweight ORM that is faster than EF Core but requires more manual work.
ADO.NET: net data access library
Subsonic, and others ORM.
Other Considerations
Dependency Injection (DI): ASP.NET Core has built-in support for DI, which is essential for managing dependencies in a clean and testable way.
Logging: ASP.NET Core provides a robust logging framework that can be extended with third-party libraries like Serilog or NLog.
Configuration: Use the built-in configuration system to manage settings across different environments.
Caching: Implement caching strategies using in-memory caching, distributed caching, or third-party libraries like Redis.
Examples:
You want to build information system, you can use: Razor, Web API, ADO.NET, and JWT and O365 Auth
When building web application in Microsoft platform stack, you will have many choices starting from web pages, ASP.NET web forms, ASP.NET MVC, and ASP.NET core. The problem happens when you want to upgrade from one library to the others. This article will discuss about how to upgrade from ASP.NET to the others.
Upgrade Path
From ASP.NET web forms to ASP.NET Core, you should recreate the project and recreate the codes. You should recreate the entire codes. If you want, you can create the hybrid method as mentioned in this article https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/aspnet/visual-studio/overview/2013/one-aspnet-integrating-aspnet-web-forms-mvc-and-web-api
From ASP.NET web forms to ASP.NET MVC, you should recreate the project and recreate the codes. You should recreate the entire codes. You can read this document https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/archive/msdn-magazine/2013/march/asp-net-migrating-asp-net-web-forms-to-the-mvc-pattern-with-the-asp-net-web-api
From ASP.NET MVC to ASP.NET Core, you can upgrade by recreate the project and modift the codes. You should modefy some codes. You read the guide to upgrade https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/aspnet/core/migration/proper-to-2x/?view=aspnetcore-6.0
Some Tips before upgrade
if you are using asp.net web form, consider to keep the asp.net in the latest version. You dont need to migrate to MVC, except you need the performance of the ASp.nET mvc core
If you are using asp.net mvc, consider to upgrade into the asp.net core. You might need consider to upgrade
If you are using asp.net web pages, consider to do hybrid approaches.
Please make sure you have all the codes, including the dependencies, references, and nuget.
Please make sure you use nuget for dependency library. you can restore later.
After restore the nuget, please make sure your application is built successfully. Never upgrade the library before the codes running well
If you have difficulty in build the codes. Edit the csproj to remove the prebuild nuget, you can find in the bottom of the codes
Put your codes in GITHUB or DEVOPS
When you first time learn ASP.NET you should learn ASP.NET syntax (ASMX), HTML, C#, and JavaScript on Windows Platform. When you learn ASP.NET MVC you should learn HTML, C# and JavaScript on Windows Platform. When you learn ASP.NET Core you should learn HTML, C#, and JavaScript on any platform. Blazor is a ASP.NET feature that give you a power to build dynamic web app with HTML and C# on any platform. You do not need JavaScript although it can communicate flawlessly with JavaScript.
Blazor Template
You have two templates. Blazor Server App that run just like traditional server-side application. Blazor WebAssembly App that work just like client-side application that can work just like JavaScript, Progressive Web App, and ASP.NET hosted. You can see the difference here.
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What should I Use?
Use Blazor Web App if you want to create web application that run on the client side. Building web app for your customer, blogs, or might be an information system without real time communication. Use Blazor WebAssembly App if you want the web application that can run in the server and doing real time communication such as IM platform, High performance web app, and complex information system such as E-learning, E-commerce, etc.
Blazor Server App.
Blazor faster enough if you compare it with ASP.NET MVC and ASP.NET Webforms.
It quite simple in term of structure.
The shared folder consists of main layout (master page) and navigation. The pages consist of the page of each function of sample. It uses the razor syntax on asp.net pages.
Communicating with the services or data quite simple. They just need a entity class just like ASP.NET core and service call model.
And you just need to call like
Is it worthen?
If you come from asp.net MVC. Blazor will give you so much simplicity and better performance.
If you come from asp.net Web Forms. Blazor will give you short learning curve and best performance.
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Problem
Entity Framework Power Tools provides useful feature of Entity Framework 6 but is not supported on Visual Studio 2015, only 2010, 2013
Possible Cause
The EF Power Tools is integrated with EF Designer on Visual Studio and it will be replaced on EF 7
Solution
Download the customized package here
Turn the visual studio off
Install it by double click OR by using Administrator account
Check the menu by Right Clicking on a project
Happy coding!
On this short video, we will discuss about a technology overview when choosing ASP.NET web forms. At least there are five reasons why you should choose ASP.NET web forms such as the rapid development environment, drag-and-drop support, and many more. Please view the video!
And how about a consideration why you don't need to use ASP.net web forms, just visit the comment and let's discuss
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As a part, of our commitment to create a local video tutorial on Visual Studio Technology. We created a beginner tutorial for ASP.NET MVC with Visual Studio 2015. There are 8 videos on the plan. You can visit YouTube to join the Visual Studio Indonesia YouTube Page. Or enjoying the video below
Problem Yesterday, I created empty web template with Web Forms support through Visual Studio 2013. Unlike, the WebForms and the MVC template that works flawlessly. I got unique error as shown on figure It is said that I need ScriptResourceMapping for jquery. It is strange that I don’t need JQUERY for this project. Solution After doing a search there are several options to solve the Empty Web issues on Visual Studio which are Option 1 – If you don’t need JQUERY If you don’t need jquery you can add this on your web.config <appSettings> <add key="ValidationSettings:UnobtrusiveValidationMode" value="None"></add> </appSettings> Option 2 – If you need JQUERY - Installing JQUERY using nugget For this purpose you can read this link Option 3 – You don’t need JQUERY but need ASP.NET WebForms Validation For this purpose you can read this link