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ASP.NET Core Web API – Portfolio Project

Overview

This repository contains a RESTful ASP.NET Core Web API developed as a personal portfolio project.

The project started as a guided learning exercise based on a YouTube tutorial and was later extended to reflect real-world backend development practices such as authentication, database persistence, and containerized deployment.

Motivation

The purpose of this project was to:

  • Gain hands-on experience with ASP.NET Core Web APIs
  • Understand JWT-based authentication and authorization
  • Work with Entity Framework Core and SQL Server
  • Apply clean backend architecture principles
  • Prepare an API for real deployment scenarios using Docker

The initial implementation was inspired by the following tutorial:

👉 YouTube Tutorial
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL82C6-O4XrHfrGOCPmKmwTO7M0avXyQKc

The final result goes beyond the tutorial and reflects personal extensions and refinements.

How the Application Works

  • The API is built using ASP.NET Core 8 following REST principles
  • Authentication is handled via JWT tokens
  • Users authenticate and receive a token, which is required for protected endpoints
  • ASP.NET Core Identity manages users and roles
  • Entity Framework Core handles database access and migrations
  • The database schema is automatically created and updated on startup
  • Initial data is seeded to allow immediate interaction with the API
  • External financial data is fetched via an HTTP client
  • The entire system runs inside Docker containers for consistency and portability

Tech Stack

  • ASP.NET Core 8
  • Entity Framework Core
  • ASP.NET Core Identity
  • JWT (JSON Web Tokens)
  • SQL Server
  • Docker & Docker Compose
  • Swagger / OpenAPI

Authentication & Authorization

  • JWT Bearer authentication
  • Token validation (issuer, audience, lifetime, signing key)
  • Role-based authorization
  • Stateless and secure API communication

Database & Persistence

  • SQL Server as the relational database
  • Entity Framework Core as the ORM
  • Automatic execution of migrations on application startup
  • Pre-seeded data for development and testing

API Documentation

Swagger is enabled and provides:

  • Interactive endpoint testing
  • JWT authorization support
  • Clear visibility of available API endpoints

Running the Project (Docker)

The entire backend stack is containerized.

docker compose up --build

Once running:

API available at:

http://localhost:8080

Swagger UI:

http://localhost:8080/swagger

Why This Project Matters

This project reflects my ability to:

  • Build secure backend APIs
  • Work with modern .NET tooling
  • Design maintainable server-side architectures
  • Prepare applications for real deployment scenarios

It represents both learning progression and practical backend development experience.

License

This project is intended for educational and portfolio purposes.