ASP.NET Core allows developers to build REST API endpoints without defining controllers since .NET 6 with Minimal APIs. Minimal APIs primarily exist for writing REST API endpoints while avoiding the verbosity of using classic Web API controllers. This article covers the features that have been added to Minimal APIs with the .NET 7 release. Minimal APIs invoke endpoints via simple method calls, such as app.MapGet and app.MapPost, and support any standard API functionality, such as authorization filters and dependency injection. Bespoke middleware can be used to allow validation of the request and the capability to execute code before or after processing the request. Headers and query string parameters can now be auto-mapped to variables, and developers can now use Minimal APIs to upload files to the server easily. However, organizing REST API into separate controllers would make the code more readable and maintainable in an enterprise-grade application with a large number of endpoints.
