


As a result, Web API is both flexible and easy to extend. In fact, one goal of Web API is to not abstract away the reality of HTTP. At the same time, Web API naturally exposes the HTTP programming model. Because it is built on top of the ASP.NET MVC runtime, Web API automatically handles the low-level transport details of HTTP. ASP.NET Web API is a set of components that simplify HTTP programming. It is also a powerful platform for building Web APIs, using a handful of verbs (GET, POST, and so forth) plus a few simple concepts such as URIs and headers. In recent years, it has become clear that HTTP is not just for serving up HTML pages. You will also build a client to consume the API. Hands on lab: Use Web API in ASP.NET 4.x to build a simple REST API for a contact manager application.
