What is ASP.NET Core?
ASP.NET Core is Microsoft’s web development platform. The ASP.NET was started in 2002.It has been developed through many evolutions and now it is ASP.NET core. The current version of stable and long term support is .net core 8. ASP.NET Core can process HTTP requests, it also has principal frameworks that can create applications, and secondary utilities. Frameworks that provide supporting features, as illustrated by figure.
What is the difference between ASP.NET and ASP.NET Core?
Microsoft that created ASP.NET started creating his version of the .NET platform, that allows ASP.NET to be updated more frequently than the rest of .NET. So ASP.NET Core and .NET Core were emerged, It allows cross-platform development for multiple platform like Linux and windows etc. It uses a subset of the original .NET APIs, many of them were only working to Windows platform. Finally Microsoft has merged .NET Core and .NET Framework into .NET, removed the Core part of the name. The name ASP.NET Core originally represents the .NET Core version of ASP.NET.
What is the difference between ASP.NET MVC and .NET Core MVC?
The MVC Framework was introduced in the early ASP.NET, before .NET Core and the newer .NET were introduced. The original ASP.NET was based on a development model called Web Pages, which gavethe experience of writing desktop applications but resulted in unmanageable web projects that did not scale well. The MVC Framework was introduced side by side Web Pages with a development model that accepted the character of HTTP and HTML, rather than trying to hide it.
MVC in acronym for Model-View-Controller, which is a design pattern that defines the shape of an application. The MVC pattern highlights separation of concerns, where areas of functionality are defined independently, which was an effective cure to the unclear architectures that Web Pages led to.
Initial versions of the MVC Framework were built on the ASP.NET foundations that were primarily designed for Web Pages.With the shift to .NET Core, ASP.NET became ASP.NET Core, and the MVC Framework was remodeled on an open, extensible, and cross-platform foundation.
The MVC Framework is still an important part of ASP.NET Core, but the way it is generally used has transformed with the rise of single-page applications (SPAs). In an SPA, the browser makes a single HTTP request and receives an HTML document that provides a rich client, normally written in a JavaScript client such as Angular or React.
What is the difference between Razor pages and web pages?
The main difference? Razor Pages puts everything on one page in one place, while MVC splits your code across Controllers, Views, and Models. Razor Pages is simpler for standalone pages; MVC is better for complex features with shared logic. ASP.NET Core lets you use both approaches in the same application.
When I first looked at ASP.NET Core, I was confused about whether to learn MVC or Razor Pages. After working with both in my practice projects, here’s how I understand the difference.
The MVC Pattern: Powerful but Complex
ASP.NET Core MVC follows a strict separation of concerns. Your application logic lives in controllers, your presentation lives in views, and data flows through models. This separation is excellent for large, complex
applications where multiple developers work on different parts. However, this structure comes with overhead. Even for simple pages like a contact form or an “About Us” page, you need to create multiple files
and wire them together properly. Coming from 12 years of Web Forms development, I found this ceremony excessive for straightforward scenarios.
Razor Pages: A Pragmatic Alternative
Razor Pages takes a different approach. Instead of splitting everything across controllers and views, it organizes code around individual pages. Each page is self-contained with its own logic and presentation.
This model felt more intuitive to me, especially for standalone pages that don’t need complex routing or shared controller logic. It reminded me of the page-centric approach from Web Forms, but modernized and without the technical baggage that made Web Forms problematic for larger applications.
Which Should You Learn First?
For developers new to ASP.NET Core, I’d suggest starting with Razor Pages. The concepts are more straightforward, and you can build working pages faster. Once you’re comfortable with the ASP.NET Core fundamentals, moving to MVC becomes much easier because you’ll already understand routing,
dependency injection, and the request pipeline. In my next post, I’ll walk you through setting up your development environment and creating your first ASP.NET Core application. We’ll start with a simple Razor Pages example to get you up and running quickly.