Chapter 3. Handling requests with the middleware pipeline
This chapter covers
- What middleware is
- Serving static files using middleware
- Adding functionality using middleware
- Combining middleware to form a pipeline
- Handling exceptions and errors with middleware
In the previous chapter, you had a whistle-stop tour of a complete ASP.NET Core application to see how the components come together to create a web application. In this chapter, we focus in on one small subsection: the middleware pipeline.
The middleware pipeline is one of the most important parts of configuration for defining how your application behaves and how it responds to requests. Understanding how to build and compose middleware is key to adding functionality to your applications.
In this chapter, you’ll learn what middleware is and how to use it to create a pipeline. You’ll see how you can chain multiple middleware components together, with each component adding a discrete piece of functionality. The examples in this chapter are limited to using existing middleware components, showing how to arrange them in the correct way for your application. In chapter 19, you’ll learn how to build your own middleware components and incorporate them into the pipeline.