Here's a treasure trove of free educational resources for learning how to query and build Web (RESTful) APIs. All that with .NET.

Microsoft is really upping its game when it comes to teaching people how to use its tools. It's main flagship is, of course, the revamped Microsoft Learn platform which encompasses all of its technologies such as .NET, Azure or Machine Learning.

Microsoft has also expanded its horizons beyond just .NET, even encompassing Java or Python, of course always in relation to its own products. I've already looked at two such offerings in
Learn How To Do Java On Azure and the Netflix inspired Fly Over the Moon With Microsoft And Python. For more on that kind of resources check the Related Articles at the bottom of this one.

This time,the focus is on .NET and Web APIs. Not just in querying, but building them too.To get your feet wet, it is recommended that you commence your journey with Microsoft Learn's  Explore the art world by using RESTful APIs, APIs offered by Museums worldwide.In there, you'll learn what an API is, how to build a local API, how to query the Metropolitan museum API,authentication strategies and more.

Your immediate next step should be with Create a web API with ASP.NET Core where you'll learn how to:  

• Create a web API project with ASP.NET Core.
• Create an in-memory database for persisting products.
• Add support for CRUD operations.
• Test web API action methods from the command shell. 

As it requires

Familiarity with RESTful service concepts and HTTP action verbs, such as GET, POST, PUT, and DELETE

the Museums course should by now have proven its worth.

Apart from Microsoft Learn there are other Microsoft educational resources. One is .NET Live TV which I covered in Keep Up To Date With Microsoft's .NET Live TV, a new portal that keeps track of all .NET and Visual Studio live streams. Yet another is Let’s Learn .NET where you'll find beginner friendly videos on everything .NET and about the Web APIs too.

These I singled out. However there's more video tutorials that are worth watching on this list:

Learn to build HTTP APIs with .NET

The conclusion is that Microsoft is certainly looking after the developer tribe that revolves around its ecosystem. Microsoft Learn for structured tutorials, Learn .NET, Live TV , YouTube and the old timer Channel 9 for videos, plus a revamped documentation platform which I've looked into .NET On QA, asking has the time come for a new StackOverflow?

It all comes down to the difference and mind shift that it's more fruitful to regard developers as customers rather than just random users.

More Information

Learn to build HTTP APIs with .NET

Related Articles

Learn How To Do Java On Azure 

Fly Over the Moon With Microsoft And Python

Keep Up To Date With Microsoft's .NET Live TV

Learn JavaScript and Node.js With Microsoft

Microsoft Offers Web Development for Beginners

Microsoft's SQL Workshops

Learn Python with Microsoft or the University of Michigan 

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