- KaiXinS -

Setting up WCF web.api with ASP.NET, NuGet and Visual Studio

This post will show how to set up a basic web.api application with ASP.NET MVC and Visual Studio 2010.

One of our current projects is to create a mobile version of our cloud based web application. The back-end functionality for this is already in place, all we really need to do is to expose the data in a new way. By using WCF web.api to expose our service directly over HTTP we will be able to communicate with a multitude of different clients (mobile, desktop, other services). What’s nice about this is that we can support multiple formats from a single service, and started by building a Sencha Touch front-end that requests JSON.

1. Download NuGet Package Manager Visual Studio plugin from here. Follow the instructions to install.

2. Open up a new ASP.NET MVC Web Application.

3. Using NuGet, we will install the web.api packages. Right click on your new project and select ‘Manage NuGet Packages’.

4. This will bring up a dialogue with exciting NuGet packages to choose from! Search online for ‘WebApi.all’ and hit install.

5. You will notice a few more references have been added to your project. 

Now you are all set up and can start your new web.api! See my next post for a run-down of how to start coding.