Intro

In the past week, I discovered minimal APIs in .NET Core and did a bit of digging.

.Net is finally joining the party of other frameworks which require small amounts of code to set up an API.

A few years ago I decided to not explore C# and the .NET Core Framework but recently I began to see the number of opportunities that are popping up around the .NET framework.

I am now on a full deep dive journey back to C# and the .NET framework, and this is due to the number of updates that came in the language and the .NET Framework.

Let's check out how .NET Core Minimal APIs fare against a very popular Express from Node.js

What is an API?

Application Programming Interface (API) is a way for different web services to talk and work together. They allow users to access data or use features from one service while communicating with another service (in most cases).

Node.js & Express.js

The structure of setting up a Node.js server using Express.js is very simple. I think this is why this combination is very popular and here is how it works:

Set up a Node.js server with Express.js, Node.js needs to be installed on the computer. Then, create a folder, open the terminal, run 'npm init' to set up a package.json file, and 'npm install express' to install Express.js. Finally, create a JavaScript file, import Express, configure routes, and start the server with 'app.listen(port)'. example below:

.NET Core & Minimal APIs

Previously in .NET Core, setting up a Web API using Visual Studio Code requires a bit of understanding of controllers, which are sections of the API that are accessed and handled for HTTP requests.

This was one of the main reasons why I took a backseat a little on .NET Core because Node.js had far fewer requirements to set up a server for an API.

The new .NET 6 and .NET 7 have made it much easier for developers to get started in building their applications. Controllers are now integrated into the framework itself, so developers do not have to worry too much about them. example below:

.NET's Minimal APIs V Node.js with Express

Getting straight to the point in how these technologies fare against each other

Feature	.NET Minimal APIs	Node.js/Express
Programming language	C#	JavaScript
Boilerplate code	Minimal	More
Asynchronous programming	Yes	Yes
Scaling	Good	Good
Popularity	Growing	Very popular

Conclusion

The number of opportunities in C# and .NET frameworks is increasing and this also reduces the deep learning curve for new developers. Most developers look to JavaScript as their preferred programming language, but the market is also in need of C# developers.