Building Applications with ASP.NET MVC 4

Course Overview
Hi, this is Scott Allen, and welcome to my course on ASP. NET MVC 4. In this course, we'll start building an application from scratch, and throughout the course we will see how to build an entire application using the C# language that stores data in a SQL Server database. Since this is a web application, we'll also be using JavaScript, HTML, and CSS. But the primary focus is on ASP. NET MVC, so we will spend our time learning about the M and V and C in MVC, that is models, views, and controllers. We'll see how controllers can respond to a user's request, and how that controller can build a model, and how they can send the model to a view when we build the UI for our web page. We'll also be using models to update data in the database, and that's the part of the course where we can learn how to work with HTML forms and validate the data a user has entered. By the end of the course, you'll be in a good position to work on your own ASP. NET MVC applications and build a web application for your users. I do expect that you are already familiar with the C# language and know some of the basics of a web application, like how to use HTML. If not, we have plenty of courses on Pluralsight that cover everything from the HTTP protocol itself to using JavaScript, CSS, and HTML together, as well as courses on the C# language. I hope you enjoy the course.

Introduction to ASP.NET MVC 4
Hi, this is Scott Allen and this is the first module in the course design to demonstrate everything you need to build applications with ASP. NET MVC. This course is primarily aimed at developers who are new to ASP. NET MVC, but even if you've been working with the framework I hope to show you a few tricks. We'll be starting at the very beginning in this first module. I'll first show you how to install all the tools that you need. We'll be using Visual Studio express 2012 for the web which is a free tool for building web applications, but you can use other editions of Visual Studio 2012 if you want to follow along. By the end of this first module, you'll see how to create and run your first application and also have an understanding of the design goals of the MVC framework. So, let's get started.

Controllers in ASP.NET MVC 4
Hi, this is Scott Allen and in this module we're going to take some time to understand how controllers work in the mvc framework. Specifically we're going to look at the routing rules which deliver in the incoming requests for from the web to our controllers and then look at controller actions. You might remember from the introduction that the controller actions are the public methods on our controllers. They have the ability to respond to an incoming http request from the web. We'll also be taking a look at action filters which can introduce pre and post processing to an action and then see how we can input data to an action with action parameters and output different types of results from an action using different action results.

Razor Views
Hi. This is Scott Allen and in this module we're going to build views with the Razor view engine in ASP. NET MVC. The topics we'll cover in this module include the Razor syntax and how to transition between c sharp code and mark up inside of a Razor view. We'll also see how to use HTML helpers to keep our view simple and how to work with a layout view that defines the structure of our user interface. No module on views would be complete without a security discussion so we'll also talk about how to avoid cross-site scripting attacks and how to use HTML encoding. Finally I'll also show you how to use partial views and when they can be helpful.

Working With Data (Part I)
Hi! This is Scott Allen and this module of the course is devoted to Data. In this first Data module, we want to start using a real database with our application. So the focus of the first module is to bring SQL Server into the picture. In the next Data module, we'll look at other data-related features in the MVC framework, features like model validation. What I'll demonstrate in this first module is how to use a technology known as the Entity Framework and combine the Entity Framework with the plain simple C Sharp class definitions we've been working with to build an application that uses SQL Server to persist data. We will see how to query data using link in the Entity Framework, and also use the Entity Framework Migrations to manage our database schema from C Sharp and Visual Studio.

Working With Data (Part II)
Hi. This is Scott Allen and this is the second module in this course focusing on working with data and models in ASP. NET MVC. In this module we'll continue working with the data base and the Entity Framework and we'll build some views to edit and create data. We'll also see how to validate incoming information and uncover more details about the model binding and html helpers in ASP. NET MVC.

AJAX and ASP.NET MVC
Hi, this is Scott Allen. And in this module, we will look at adding AJAX features to an MVC application. Specifically, we'll look at the AJAX helpers offered by the MVC framework. We'll also spend time using jQuery and jQuery UI to work directly in script code. I'll show you how client validation works, how to minify and bundle your scripts, how to produce JSON from your application, and what to do with JSON once you have it on the client. I will do all these things while adding features to the application.

Security and ASP.NET MVC 4
Hi. This is Scott Allen. In this module is we'll look at the security features of ASP. NET MVC. In this module I want to show you how to work with users and roles and also how to use OpenID and OAuth so your customers can sign in to your website using a third party like Microsoft, Google, or Facebook. I also want to show you some of the attacks that you'll face if you deploy an application on a web server. So we'll look at cross-site request forgeries and how to make your application resist such an attack. We'll start by looking at authentication and see how we can use Windows Integrated Authentication for internet style apps and forms-based authentication for web applications. ( Pause )

ASP.NET MVC 4 Infrastructure
Hi, this is Scott Allen and in this module I'll show you how to use some of the infrastructure features of ASP. net inside an MVC application. In this module, I'll show you how to use the underlying ASP. net caching engine to improve the performance of an application. We'll also see how to work with ASP. net resource files to globalize and localize some application to support multiple cultures. Finally I'll show you some techniques you can use to enable diagnostics and logging inside of an MVC application. ( Silence )

Unit Testing with ASP.NET MVC 4
Hi, this is Scott Allen and this module looks at test-driven development and unit testing with the "ASP. NET MVC Framework". In this module, I want to show you how to use test-driven development to drive the design of a feature. We'll look at the TDD cycle, which is red, green, re-factor. First, you write a failing test which gives you a red result in the "Test Runner". Then you make the test pass, which gives you a green result. And then you re-factor the code to improve the design. I'm also going to demonstrate how to unit test controllers, and how to build test doubles to control the environment the controller executes inside of when we test them. ( Silence )

Deployment and Configuration
Hi, this is Scott Allan. And in this module I'll be focusing on configuration and deployment of an ASP. NET MVC application. I'll talk about the various configuration files that you'll find on the machine, and what those configuration files mean to your application. I'll also be transforming my development machine into a webserver by installing internet information services -- or IIS -- and building a web deployment package to install the application into IIS. Then finally, we'll take a look at deploying to the cloud using Microsoft's Windows Azure websites. ( Silence )