Web Api

What is Web API :

                Asp.Net Web API is a framework for building HTTP services that can be consumed by a broad range of clients including browsers, mobiles, iPhones and tablets. It is very similar to ASP.NET MVC since it contains the MVC features such as routing, controllers, action results, filter, model binders, IOC container or dependency injection. But it is not a part of the MVC Framework. It is a part of the core ASP.NET platform and can be used with MVC and other types of Web applications like Asp.Net Web Forms. It can also be used as a stand-alone Web services application.

                if you like to expose your service data to the browsers and as well as all these modern devices apps in fast and simple way, you should have an API which is compatible with browsers and all these devices. Web API is the great framework for exposing your data and service to different-different devices.

Web API Features :

     1) It supports convention-based CRUD Actions since it works with HTTP verbs GET, POST, PUT and DELETE.

      2)   Responses have an Accept header and HTTP status code.

      3)  Responses are formatted by Web API’s MediaTypeFormatter into JSON, XML or whatever format you want to add as a MediaTypeFormatter.

     4) It may accepts and generates the content which may not be object oriented like images, PDF files etc.

      5) It has automatic support for OData. Hence by placing the new [Queryable] attribute on a controller method that returns IQueryable, clients can use the method for OData query composition.

      6)  It can be hosted with in the application or on IIS.

     7) It also supports the MVC features such as routing, controllers, action results, filter, model binders, IOC container or dependency injection that makes it more simple and robust.