Getting Started

Goal

This snapshot advances Northline Press by teaching you to create a minimal ASP.NET app on port 5080.

Every numbered folder is a complete app. Run this stage independently, then compare it with the previous folder.

Prerequisites

Use .NET 8 SDK, a terminal, and Docker for Postgres stages. You should recognize C#, HTTP verbs, and basic HTML.

Port 5080 must be free. Copy .env.example and review appsettings.json before database stages.

• .NET 8 SDK
• A code editor and terminal
• Docker from part 4 onward

Concepts

ASP.NET Core builds a web host with minimal Program.cs and route endpoints.

Keep page models thin: Razor Pages accept input, services and EF Core enforce rules, and Razor escapes output by default.

Walkthrough

Create the builder, map a root JSON response, and listen on port 5080.

Read the example, then open the matching snapshot. The repository includes the surrounding setup and error handling.

app.MapGet("/", () => new { message = "Northline Press is live", port = 5080 });

Run and verify

Enter 01-Getting-Started, restore packages, and run on port 5080.

Open http://127.0.0.1:5080. Watch the terminal for validation and database errors.

git clone https://github.com/michaeldunga1/fcc-aspnet-blog.git
cd fcc-aspnet-blog/01-Getting-Started
cp .env.example .env
dotnet restore
dotnet run --urls http://127.0.0.1:5080

Troubleshooting

If the browser cannot connect, confirm the process is still running. Address already in use means another process owns 5080.

Restore errors usually mean the SDK is missing or you opened the wrong folder. For Postgres failures, confirm Docker is running and the northline_NN database name matches the snapshot.

• Read the first error first
• Restart after environment changes
• Never commit .env or production secrets

Try this

Add a /health route that returns JSON ok: true.

Test a happy path and one invalid or unauthorized request.

• Make one small change
• Test it in the browser
• Compare with the next snapshot only after it works