Blog C# ASP.NET Core

Overview

This is my first project using C# and ASP.NET Core. After recently exploring Go and building a project with it, I wanted to continue broadening my skill set by trying something new. My curiosity led me to C# and ASP.NET Core, and this project gave me the chance to dive into both and see how they compare.

Key features and technologies implemented are:

• JWT Authentication: Secure user authentication using JSON Web Tokens for session management.

• Middlewares: Developed custom middleware to verify JWTs, ensuring only authenticated users can access protected routes.

• Password Hashing: Leveraged bcrypt for secure password storage, ensuring user credentials are safely hashed.

• OTP Verification: Implemented a robust signup process with One-Time Password (OTP) verification, enhancing user registration security.

• Cloudinary Integration: Successfully integrated Cloudinary for image uploads, allowing users to manage their profile pictures seamlessly.

• Input Validation: Incorporated comprehensive input validation to ensure data integrity and prevent malicious input.

• Bloom Filters: Implemented Bloom filters to efficiently check for existing emails during user registration, optimizing performance for large databases.

• CORS Management: Configured Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS) to enable secure interactions between the frontend and backend.

Tech Used

• C# ASP.NET Core: Used as the main framework for building the backend of the application. It provides a powerful, cross-platform environment for building web APIs and services.

• Entity Framework Core: The Object-Relational Mapper (ORM) used to manage database operations. It allows developers to work with databases using .NET objects and eliminates the need for most of the data-access code typically required.

• Cloudinary: Integrated for image management and storage. It provides services such as image uploads, transformations, and optimized delivery, simplifying the handling of media files.

• Docker: Used to containerize the application, ensuring consistent environments for development, testing, and deployment. Docker simplifies dependency management and allows the app to run seamlessly across different machines.

Set-Up the Project Locally

.NET

1. Clone the repository to your local machine:

   git clone https://github.com/Sahil2k07/Blog-CSharp.git

2. Move to the project directory:

   cd Blog-CSharp

3. Set up all the required env variables by making a .env file. A .env.example file has been given for reference.

   APP_URL=http://localhost:6000
   
   ALLOWED_ORIGIN=*
   
   DATABASE_URL="Host=localhost;Port=5432;Database=database;Username=postgres;Password=password;"
   
   # Mailer Details.
   MAIL_HOST=smtp.gmail.com
   MAIL_USER=
   MAIL_PASS=
   
   # Cloudinary Details.
   CLOUD_NAME=
   API_KEY=
   API_SECRET=
   FOLDER_NAME=
   
   # Minimum 32 characters or will give error ;) Microsoft Guys want Applications to be Secured
   JWT_SECRET="Blog-App-C#-secret-for-authenticating-users"

4. Restore all the packages

   dotnet restore

5. Install the ef package globally to apply migrations

   dotnet tool install --global dotnet-ef

6. Apply the Migrations

   dotnet ef database update

7. Run the Application

   dotnet run

Docker

1. Clone the repository to your local machine:

   git clone https://github.com/Sahil2k07/Blog-CSharp.git

2. Move to the project directory:

   cd Blog-CSharp

3. Set up these env variables by making a .env file. A .env.example file has been given for reference.

   # Mailer Details.
   MAIL_HOST=smtp.gmail.com
   MAIL_USER=
   MAIL_PASS=
   
   # Cloudinary Details.
   CLOUD_NAME=
   API_KEY=
   API_SECRET=
   FOLDER_NAME=

4. Run the command to start the Docker container:

   docker-compose up

   or run in background (detached mode)

   docker-compose up -d
   

5. If you have docker compose plugin, use this command instead:

   docker compose up

   or run in background (detached mode)

   docker compose up -d

6. Access the project on http://localhost:5000 of your machine.