What Should a .NET Project Have? A Practical Checklist for Developers

#dotnet #developers #webdev #programming

If you’ve ever kicked off a new .NET project, you probably know the temptation: jump straight into writing controllers and models, and before you know it, the project grows into an unstructured mess. A well-organized project, however, saves you and your team from headaches later—especially when it comes to scaling, testing, and maintaining the application.

So, what are the essentials a solid .NET project should include? Let’s walk through the key components that every professional .NET solution (particularly web APIs and enterprise applications) should have.

1. Project Structure That Makes Sense

A good starting point is a clean, predictable folder structure. Here’s one I often use:

/MyApp │ ├── Controllers/ --> Handle HTTP requests ├── Models/ --> DTOs, ViewModels, domain models ├── Services/ --> Business logic ├── Repositories/ --> Data access layer (EF Core, Dapper, etc.) ├── Interfaces/ --> Abstractions for services/repositories ├── Data/ --> DbContext, migrations ├── Middleware/ --> Custom middleware (logging, errors, etc.) ├── Utilities/Helpers/ --> Shared helpers (JWT, encryption, etc.) ├── wwwroot/ --> Static files (for web apps) ├── Tests/ --> Unit & integration tests │ ├── appsettings.json --> Configurations ├── Program.cs --> Entry point (setup, DI, logging, pipeline) ├── Startup.cs (optional)--> Used in older templates ├── MyApp.csproj --> Project file

This structure gives clarity to anyone joining the project and enforces separation of concerns.

2. The Must-Haves

Let’s zoom into the important parts:

*Program.cs / Startup.cs
*

Configure dependency injection (DI), middleware, routing, and logging.
This is the "wiring hub" of your application.

**Dependency Injection (DI)
**Promotes loose coupling and testability:

services.AddScoped<IUserService, UserService>();
**appsettings.json

Configuration is king. Store:
Connection strings
API keys
JWT secrets
Environment-based overrides (Development, Production, etc.)

Logging
Use built-in logging or plug in something like Serilog or NLog for richer capabilities.

**Error Handling
**Centralize it with middleware so your APIs return consistent, predictable error messages.

**Models / DTOs / ViewModels
**Keep your domain entities separate from what you expose via APIs. This helps avoid overexposing your DB schema.

Data Access Layer
If you’re using EF Core:

DbContext in /Data
Migrations for schema evolution
Optional repository pattern for abstraction

Services / Business Layer
Controllers should stay thin. Push business logic into services to keep things clean.

Authentication & Authorization

JWT, cookies, or OAuth depending on your project.
Secure routes using [Authorize].

Middleware
Useful for logging, request tracking, authentication, or handling CORS.

Unit & Integration Tests
Use xUnit, NUnit, or MSTest. Mock dependencies with Moq (or similar) for isolated testing.

API Documentation
Swagger/OpenAPI is almost non-negotiable these days:

builder.Services.AddSwaggerGen();

Static Code Analysis
Use tools like StyleCop, SonarQube, or ReSharper to enforce coding standards and catch potential issues early.

CI/CD Pipeline

Even for small projects, prepare for:
Automated builds
Tests
Deployment (Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions, etc.)

3. Good-to-Have Extras

Health Checks → Monitor app health (great for Kubernetes/Docker).
Rate Limiting → Prevent abuse.
Localization → If you’re targeting multi-lingual users.
Feature Flags → Toggle features without redeploying.
Secrets Management → Use Azure Key Vault or similar instead of hardcoding secrets.

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