ASP.NET MVC 3 Tutorials Index

My ASP.NET MVC 2 Tutorials Index is one of my most popular blog posts of 2010, so I thought I would make an ASP.NET MVC 3 Tutorials Index to make it easy to find ASP.NET MVC 3 tutorials on my website. I will be adding new tutorials over time so you can come back often to find fresh material. Most recent tutorials are at the top of the list.

 

ASP.NET MVC 4

• ASP.NET MVC 4 Developer Preview - You can download the ASP.NET MVC 4 Developer Preview and run it side-by-side with ASP.NET MVC 3 for Visual Studio 2010 and Visual Studio 2011. Note there is a new mobile template for developing ASP.NET MVC Web Applications with jQuery Mobile, some new code generation recipes, and other new features.
• ASP.NET MVC 4 Roadmap - Really early in its stages, but the ASP.NET MVC Team is contemplating better Visual Studio Tooling with a feature coined Recipes, better Mobile support for phones and tablets, and better integration with cloud services like Windows Azure.

 

ASP.NET MVC 3 and Visual Studio 11 Developer Preview

• Download ASP.NET MVC 3 for Visual Studio 11 Developer Preview - Pretty self explanatory :) Download ASP.NET MVC 3 for the Visual Studio 11 Developer Preview. Not sure if this will co-exist with ASP.NET MVC 4, but I assume it will since we have always been able to install different versions of ASP.NET MVC side-by-side.

 

ASP.NET MVC 3 Tutorials

• Database Initializers and EF Code First - Database.SetInitializer - Database Initializers allow you to run custom logic the first time a DbContext class is first used in your application. In the example below I will use it to populate the database with seed data using EF Code First and ASP.NET MVC 3.
• Customize T4 Templates used by MvcScaffolding - ASP.NET MVC 3 Code Generation - Customize the T4 Templates used by MvcScaffolding for code generation.
• MvcScaffolding Nuget Package and EF Code First - Code Generation - In this tutorial, we use the MvcScaffolding Nuget Package to generate ASP.NET MVC Controller CRUD Actions, custom EF DbContext Class, and CRUD Views. You get similar results as shown in the previous two tutorials, but we're using a different technique than the new Add Controller Dialog in the ASP.NET MVC 3 Tools Update. Get your Code Generation On!
• EF Code First and ASP.NET MVC Scaffolding of CRUD Actions and Views - Using the new Add Controller Dialog in the ASP.NET MVC 3 Tools Update to generate CRUD Controller Actions and Views using EF Code First!
• ASP.NET MVC 3 Scaffolding with Entity Framework - Code Generation - A quick look at the ASP.NET MVC 3 Tools Update and how it enhances the Add Controller Dialog to scaffold controller and views using Entity Framework.
• SessionLess Controllers in ASP.NET MVC 3 - SessionState Attribute - Learn how and why to manage session state behavior in ASP.NET MVC 3 using the new SessionState Attribute.
• IControllerActivator in ASP.NET MVC 3 - The IControllerFactory in ASP.NET MVC 3 has been refactored so that controller creation is done using a separate IControllerActivator.
• IDependencyResolver in ASP.NET MVC 3 - A more fundamental look at the new IDependencyResolver Interface in ASP.NET MVC 3 used for service location. This tutorial focuses on the fundamentals so you understand its purpose.
• Partial Page Output Caching in ASP.NET MVC 3 - OutputCache Attribute - Partial Page Output Caching in ASP.NET MVC 3 will give your web application some wonderful scalability when it comes to caching page fragments served by Html.Action and Html.RenderAction.
• ViewBag in ASP.NET MVC 3 - Dynamic Wrapper Around ViewData Backing Store - ASP.NET MVC 3 has a new ViewBag that is a more convenient way to access key-value pairs in the backing store used by ViewData. It does come with a few challenges, however.
• AllowHtmlAttribute in ASP.NET MVC 3 - In most cases you will want to change your code to use the new AllowHtmlAttribute in ASP.NET MVC 3 as opposed to the ValidateInputAttribute you were using with ASP.NET MVC 2 to allow HTML Tags to be included in values bound to model properties.
• JsonValueProviderFactory in ASP.NET MVC 3 - In ASP.NET MVC 3 there is now a built-in JsonValueProviderFactory that is used by modelbinders to obtain values provided by JSON requests.
• ASP.NET MVC 3 Remote Validation Tutorial - ASP.NET MVC 3 comes with a new RemoteAttribute that you can decorate on model properties for calling server-side methods during client-side validation. In this sample you can mimic twitter-like registration functionality to let users know they chose a username that is already taken by another user.
• CompareAttribute in ASP.NET MVC 3 - Compare Properties During Validation - ASP.NET MVC 3 has a new CompareAttribute that allows you to compare properties during validation. Good for situations like when you need to verify the password entered by a user equals confirm password during registration.
• ASP.NET MVC 3 Validation and IValidatableObject - ASP.NET MVC 3 supports the new IValidatableObject Interface in DataAnnotations that allows you to provide complex validation or self-validation within a Validate method on the object.
• Unobtrusive JavaScript in ASP.NET MVC 3 AjaxHelpers - Ajax.ActionLink and Ajax.BeginForm Helpers now support unobtrusive JavaScript using jQuery in ASP.NET MVC 3.
• ASP.NET MVC 3 RedirectPermanent - SEO Feature - The new Response.RedirectPermanent in ASP.NET 4 is used within 3 new ActionResult Classes in ASP.NET MVC 3: RedirectPermanent, RedirectToActionPermanent, and RedirectToRoutePermanent.
• Html.Raw and HtmlString with ASP.NET MVC 3 Razor View Engine - The new Razor View Engine supported by ASP.NET MVC 3 automatically HTML encodes output. You can use the new Html.Raw or the HtmlString Class directly to output un-encoded HTML in your views.

 

ASP.NET MVC 3 RTM Downloads

• Download ASP.NET MVC 3 Tools Update - An ASP.NET MVC 3 Tools Update was released on 4/12/2011 with support for Scaffolding, EF 4.1, and other new features.
• Download ASP.NET MVC 3 RTM - Download ASP.NET MVC 3 RTM, which was just released on Wednesday 1/12/2011 in time for CodeMash.
• ASP.NET MVC 3 Application Upgrader - A tool on CodePlex to help you upgrade your ASP.NET MVC 2 applications to ASP.NET MVC 3.
• ASP.NET MVC 3 Scaffolding with MvcScaffolding Package - A promising Nuget Package that you can use for ASP.NET MVC 3 Scaffolding. Point your Nuget Command Line to a model and have views, controllers, and database context classes generated for you.
• WebForm to Razor View Conversion Tool - If you need to convert your WebForm Views to Razor for your ASP.NET MVC 3 Web Applications, you may want to check out this free tool from Telerik!

 

ASP.NET MVC 3 Sample Applications

• Nerddinner 3.0 - Wow! The latest version of Nerddinner may not be for beginners anymore. It has not only been updated to ASP.NET MVC 3 and Razor, but it also includes a whole host of libraries and technologies, including: EF Code First, Nuget, YepNope with Modernizr, jQuery Mobile 2, GeoLocation, MVC HTML5 Templates, ELMAH, Miniprofiler, DotNetOpenAuth, 51Degrees Mobile Capabilities Module, and more.
• LaxCraft - LaxCraft is an ASP.NET MVC 3 sample website that allows a youth team to keep track of their effort on and off the field. It is currently designed just to support 1 team and is geared towards Lacrosse but it could easily evolve to supporting multiple teams or even multiple leagues and sports.
• Project Silk - If you are looking for an ASP.NET MVC 3 Sample Application that provides guidance on developing cross-browser web applications, you may want to look at Project Silk from Microsoft Patterns & Practices. Project Silk focuses on the latest web standards and technologies like ASP.NET MVC 3, jQuery, HTML5, and client-side functionality using capabilities in modern browsers.
• Music Store - An ASP.NET MVC 3 Sample Application that includes source code and a 160 page PDF walking you through the development of a Music Store using ASP.NET MVC 3, Entity Framework, SQL Server Compact, and a bit of jQuery.

 

ASP.NET MVC 3 Training

• Mix 11 ASP.NET MVC 3 Videos - Links to the obvious ASP.NET MVC 3 Videos at Mix 11, but more may show up as they add additional videos on the Mix 11 Website. Grab some free ASP.NET MVC 3 Training!
• What's New in ASP.NET MVC 3 Video at Oredev - Nice overview of the new features in ASP.NET MVC 3 by Brad Wilson of the Microsoft ASP.NET MVC 3 Team.
• ASP.NET MVC 3 Videos and Screencasts - The ASP.NET MVC 3 Online Conference is over, but you can still watch the videos and screencasts on Channel 9.
• Free ASP.NET MVC 3 Training - MvcConf is having a day of Free ASP.NET MVC 3 Training on Tuesday, February 8, 2011 from 8am - 5PM CST. Lots of Microsoft ASP.NET MVC 3 Experts like Scott Guthrie, Scott Hanselman, Phil Haack and others. Note this free ASP.NET MVC 3 training is over, so just check out the ASP.NET MVC 3 videos and screencasts that you can watch at your leisure.
• Free ASP.NET MVC 3 Video Training from Pluralsight - Pluralsight keeps teasing us by making their ASP.NET MVC 3 training free from time-to-time. It is available for free once again through March 18, 2011. Grab it while it is free. If the date is over, I will continue to update this post when it is free once again :)

 

ASP.NET MVC 3 Plugins, Tools, 3rd Party Stuff

• CoffeeLite - A Visual Studio 2010 Extension that provides Syntax Highlighting for CoffeeScript. This is just Syntax Highlighting and not a replacement for Web Workbench.
• Web Workbench - A Visual Studio 2010 Plug-In that allows you to use CoffeeScript, Sass, and Less in your ASP.NET Web Applications, including ASP.NET MVC! Since Orchard CMS is also built using ASP.NET MVC, you can use the Web Workbench for Orchard Development as well, see CoffeeScript and Orchard CMS Module Development.
• MVC-Mini-Profiler - A powerful ASP.NET MVC 3 Performance Profiler that also profiles database connections and AJAX Calls. Supports DbConnection, Entity Framework, Linq2Sql, etc.
• Glimpse - Debug ASP.NET MVC 3 on the server from your browser with a Firebug-like browser plugin. Currently supports WebForms and ASP.NET MVC 3, but will support PHP, Ruby on Rails, and Node.js in the future. Currently available via Nuget. Best to watch the video.
• Route Debugger 2.0 - A handy tool by Haack that helps you debug ASP.NET MVC 3 Routes. Version 2.0 adds tracing at the bottom of each page similar to the Glimpse Web Debugger mentioned above.

 

ASP.NET MVC 3 CMS

• Orchard CMS 1.2 - Probably the best thing to come out of Mix 11 was Orchard CMS, a really nice content management system for the .NET Framework using ASP.NET MVC 3, Autofac, NHibernate, Castle DynamicProxy, Lucene, and other OSS Gems.

 

Make sure you check the ASP.NET MVC 2 Tutorials Index as well for other tutorials. If you are interested in books, you may be interested in Thoughts on Choosing an ASP.NET MVC Book.

Hope this helps.

David Hayden

 

posted on Wednesday, January 05, 2011 3:44 PM