ASP.NET HttpGet

last modified April 3, 2025

In this article, we explore the HttpGet attribute in ASP.NET 8. This attribute is essential for building RESTful APIs and web services that handle GET requests.

ASP.NET is a cross-platform, high-performance framework for building modern web applications. The HttpGet attribute simplifies routing and request handling.

Basic Definition

The HttpGet attribute in ASP.NET marks a controller action method to respond only to HTTP GET requests. GET is the most common HTTP method used to retrieve data from a server.

When applied to an action method, HttpGet specifies that the method should be invoked when receiving a GET request. It can be used with route templates to define custom URL patterns.

HttpGet is part of ASP.NET's attribute routing system, which provides more control over URI patterns than conventional routing. It's commonly used in Web API controllers.

ASP.NET HttpGet Example

The following example demonstrates a basic Web API controller using HttpGet.

var builder = WebApplication.CreateBuilder(args);
builder.Services.AddControllers();

var app = builder.Build();

app.MapControllers();
app.Run();

This sets up a basic ASP.NET application with controller support. The MapControllers method enables attribute routing for controllers.

using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc;

[ApiController]
[Route("api/[controller]")]
public class ProductsController : ControllerBase
{
    private static List<Product> _products = new()
    {
        new Product(1, "Laptop", 999.99m),
        new Product(2, "Mouse", 19.99m),
        new Product(3, "Keyboard", 49.99m)
    };

    [HttpGet]
    public IActionResult GetAllProducts()
    {
        return Ok(_products);
    }

    [HttpGet("{id}")]
    public IActionResult GetProductById(int id)
    {
        var product = _products.FirstOrDefault(p => p.Id == id);
        if (product == null) return NotFound();
        return Ok(product);
    }

    [HttpGet("search")]
    public IActionResult SearchProducts([FromQuery] string name)
    {
        var results = _products.Where(p => 
            p.Name.Contains(name, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase));
        return Ok(results);
    }
}

public record Product(int Id, string Name, decimal Price);

This controller demonstrates three different HttpGet scenarios. The first method returns all products when hitting the base route /api/products.

The second method uses route parameter {id} to get a specific product. The third method shows query parameter binding with [FromQuery].

The ApiController attribute enables automatic HTTP 400 responses for invalid models and other Web API conventions. Route sets the base path for all actions in this controller.

The example shows how HttpGet can be used for different GET scenarios: collection retrieval, single item retrieval, and filtered searches. Each method returns appropriate HTTP status codes.

Source

Microsoft ASP.NET Web API Documentation

In this article, we have explored the HttpGet attribute in ASP.NET 8. This powerful feature simplifies the creation of RESTful endpoints for retrieving data.

Author

My name is Jan Bodnar, and I am a passionate programmer with extensive programming experience. I have been writing programming articles since 2007. To date, I have authored over 1,400 articles and 8 e-books. I possess more than ten years of experience in teaching programming.

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