This chapter provided an overview of the what, why, and how of an ASP.NET Web API. ASP.NET Web API is a next generation service that enables support for a first-class modern HTTP programming model. It provides abundant support for formats and content negotiation, and request validation.

We talked about the foundational elements of a Web API. We then discussed its usage scenarios and components, and also discussed the classes that make up the API. We went through the request-response pipeline and walked through the message lifecycle of a request. We then created our first simple Web API for a simplified customer scenario and walked through its development, testing, and deployment using Azure Websites. In the next chapter, we will look into advanced capabilities of ASP.NET Web API, and see how these capabilities can be used to customize different aspects of the ASP.NET Web API request-response pipeline.