ASP.Net Web API and Identity 2.0 - Things to Know About

Microsoft recently converted .Net into a cross-platform programming platform by making it available to Linux and Mac OS users. As an open source web development platform, ASP.Net now can be used by enterprises and programmers regardless of their choice of operating system. Microsoft further frequently adds new features and capabilities to ASP.Net to help developers in rapidly creating applications for a wide range of devices.

Microsoft has designed ASP.Net web API as a dynamic framework for creating web APIs by availing the advantages of .Net Framework. Likewise, ASP.Net Identity can be used as a minimal API to manage the security and authentication public-facing ASP.Net applications. These APIs make it easier for web developers to enhance the performance and security of websites and internet applications created using ASP.Net.

ASP.Net Web API

As a simple and flexible protocol, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) serves up a wide variety of web pages. It is also used widely for collaborative and distributed information systems. But HTTP can also be used as an effective platform to create APIs that expose a various data and services. As each operating system, web browser and other platforms have HTTP libraries, the services and data can be conveyed to a wide range of clients by using the APIs developed on it.

Microsoft has designed ASP.NET Web development API as a Framework to create build different web APIs by leveraging the power of .Net Framework. The programmers can use Web API to create RESTful applications on top of .Net Framework. The Web API further makes it easier for programmers to create HTTP services that can be conveyed to desktop applications, web browsers, mobile devices and other clients.

Microsoft has packaged the Web API with ASP.Net MVC by default. However, the programmers still have option to use the Web API in traditional ASP.Net Web Forms applications. The developers can further use the ASP.Net Web API to create web services without using SOAP. The API allows them to create HTTP services on top of the existing WCF message pipeline. Microsoft has already shared a list of Web APIs to illustrate their different features.

ASP.Net Identity 2.0

As the name indicates ASP.Net Identity 2.0 is the updated version of ASP.NET membership system. Microsoft introduced the membership system with ASP.Net 2.0 in 2005. With passage of time, ASP.Net Identify became ineffective in handing complex authentication and authorization of modern websites and internet applications. So Microsoft released the version 2.0 of ASP.NET membership system with several new features and improvements.

The final version of ASP.NET Identity 2.0 was released by Microsoft in March 2014. It came with a set of new features including two-factor authentication support, account lockout, account confirmation and security stamp. Nowadays, users access websites and web applications on a various devices. But often their choice password fails to keep the user accounts secure and inaccessible. The two-factor authentication supported by the ASP.Net Identity 2.0 will provide additional security to the user accounts by sending codes through emails or SMS. Each time the user wants to access his account, he has to provide the code along with login id and password.

The programmers can optimize the security of applications by blocking the user account temporarily whenever a user enters password or two-factor codes incorrectly. The Identity 2.0 allows developers to configure the number of login attempts or time span for blocking the user account. At the same time, the user will also have option to reset the password in case he has forgotten the same. Each time a user changes his password, the ASP.Net Identity will remove all associated login by regenerating security stamps.

Both ASP.Net Web API 2 and Identity 2.0 can be used to optimize the performance and security of a wide range of websites and web applications. As ASP.Net has become a cross-platform web development platform, these APIs can now be availed by developers using Windows, Linux and Mac.

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