CourseNotes.txt

NOTE: MVC Template from Microsoft COMES WITH BOOTSTRAP CSS LIBRARY
A)File Structure:
1. (Root)\Program.cs: Entry point to app.
2. 	

B)IActionResult: Interface encompassing result classes from actions done by the app. Could be formatted data or data indicating actions to take.
	EX:
		- ViewResult: Returns an HTML view
		- JsonResult: Return JSON data
		- ContentResult: Return plain text
		- RedirectResult: Return response to redirect to URL
		- RedirectToActionResult: Redirect to another ActionResult
		- StatusCodeResult: Return response with given HTTP status code
		
C) Action Parameters
	How actions (Methods defined in controllers) receive input. Can come from sources such as:
		- Url segments defined in routes, ex: /Home/Index/{id?} route for "id" input. Input arg name MUST MATCH.
		- Query strings such as in GET requests
		- Form submissions

D) Entity Framework (Separate package)
	Video also uses EntityFrameworkCore.Tools
	NOTE: Since i don't have SQL Server installed, using PostgreSQL instead since i already have this installed
	Interacting with database using dotnet objects, queries using c#
	a) Code First
		Define db with c# code
		
	b) Database First (Scaffold)
		Auto-generate models from existing db schema
		
	Commands used during setup:
	- dotnet new tool-manifest: Setup list of tools LOCAL to project (not solution)
	- dotnet tool install dotnet-ef: Command line tools for EntityFrameworkCore
	- dotnet ef migrations add *Name*: Add migration
	- dotnet ef database update: Run migrations
	- dotnet ef dbcontext scaffold *Database Connection String* *Database provider name*: Scaffold/Reverse engineer db schema found on said connection
	
	c) Use async + Task return type for db operations
	
	d) Razor:
		@model: Data to pass to view from controller, strongly typed
		ViewData: Dict containing data, loosely typed

	e) Anchor tag helper with Razor: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/aspnet/core/mvc/views/tag-helpers/built-in/anchor-tag-helper
	NOTE: asp-for AUTOMATICALLY add's existing model's value to input elements
	
	f) Model binding, to automatically bind values to a newly created Model instance as an argument to a controller's method