Building blocks
As described in the previous section, ASP.NET Web API is built on top of existing frameworks and technologies. Web API leverages features from ASP.NET MVC, the core ASP.NET framework, and the .NET framework to reduce the overall learning curve for developers and at the same time provides abstraction to make programming easier. The following figure highlights the key features that make up the ASP.NET Web API framework.
Note
ASP.NET Web API leverages some standard features from the ASP.NET MVC framework. Though expertise in ASP.NET MVC is not a requirement for developing HTTP Services using ASP.NET Web API, a fundamental understanding of the ASP.NET MVC framework and the MVC design pattern is useful. More information about the ASP.NET MVC framework is available at http://www.asp.net/mvc.
