The role of middleware in ASP.NET and identity

A lot of technologies and products start with a code name, and when Microsoft came up with Project Katana, it certainly had a zing to the name. This project came about in 2013 to address a couple of shortcomings in .NET at the time.

We're not going to drag up old .NET code and point to flaws in the design here, but even without going into the details, you can probably relate to the challenge of replacing components in your code. Let's say, for instance, that you start out creating a utility for controlling some smart light bulbs you have in your home. During troubleshooting one day, you realize that it would be easier if you captured some information and logged it. The quick-and-dirty method is to append lines to a file called log.txt. This works nicely until you realize that you could use some insight into non-error conditions as well, such as logging when the lights were turned on and off to create some stats for yourself...