Data transfer object
A data transfer object is a data-carrying structure that conveys defined information between software components or across application boundaries without encapsulating substantial domain behavior.
Building Web APIs with ASP.NET Core
A data-transfer object is an object that packages data for transfer between software components or across an interface.
- How it is used
- Packages board-game API request and response data for exchange as JSON with clients.
- How deep it goes
- Builds generic response and endpoint-specific input classes, then follows their use through controller actions and validation.
- Examples
- Uses a linked board-game response, a board-game update request, and account registration and login DTOs.
- What you can do after
- Build it from scratch for ASP.NET Core endpoints that accept selected inputs or return typed data with descriptive links.
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Secure APIs
A data transfer object is a data structure used to carry structured data between software layers or processes without encapsulating domain behavior.
- How it is used
- Uses DTOs as a secure implementation pattern for transferring limited data across API, business, database, and other application layers.
- How deep it goes
- Defines DTOs and their security purpose, but stops short of showing DTO code or a construction procedure.
- Examples
- Uses API, business, and database layers as the concrete transfer path, with incoming and outgoing payloads as validation boundaries.
- What you can do after
- Apply DTOs to restrict transferred fields, then validate payloads and test each application layer.
.NET MAUI in Action
A data transfer object is a data structure that carries serialized data between application or service boundaries without encapsulating business behavior.
- How it is used
- Shares consistent data shapes across application, Web API, and .NET MAUI client projects.
- How deep it goes
- Defines DTO behavior and contrasts it with ViewModel functionality, but does not detail serialization or transport protocols.
- Examples
- Uses ProductDto, StockCountDto, InventoryItemDto, User, and aggregated leaderboard data as examples.
- What you can do after
- Apply it via shared projects to reuse data structures and distinguish data-only DTOs from functional ViewModels.
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.NET in Action, Second Edition
A data transfer object is an object that defines the data communicated across a boundary without necessarily exposing the structure of the underlying domain or persistence model.
- How it is used
- Structures data crossing application boundaries, especially between web-facing operations and persistence code.
- How deep it goes
- Defines DTO purpose and implements separate C# records for creation and update, without detailing serialization or validation.
- Examples
- Uses NewCustomerDto and UpdateCustomerDto in a customer repository called by a CSV importer.
- What you can do after
- Build it from scratch by defining operation-specific records and passing them through explicit repository methods.
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Building Distributed Applications that Work
A data transfer object is a data-only structure that carries selected values across application or service boundaries.
- How it is used
- Carries product data from an API to a UI without exposing the database entity as the UI’s data type.
- How deep it goes
- Defines the DTO’s boundary role and shows a C# record and consuming client, but does not detail entity-to-DTO conversion.
- Examples
- Uses a ProductDto record, a /products HTTP request, and a home-page product table.
- What you can do after
- Build it from scratch as a C# product record, then use it to receive and display API data.
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F# in Action: A Revised Edition of Get Programming with F#
A data transfer object is an object that carries data between software components without encapsulating domain behavior.
- How it is used
- Separates JSON-facing data from rich domain behavior during deserialization and supports F#’s data-first design.
- How deep it goes
- Defines simple records, demonstrates raw-to-domain validation, and stops short of embedding domain logic in converters.
- Examples
- Uses a guitar inventory with RawGuitar fields, JSON input, and tryAsFullGuitar mapping.
- What you can do after
- Build it from scratch by defining a JSON-shaped record, deserializing into it, and mapping validated values into the domain.
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Related concepts
- portused by · A port is a defined interface or endpoint through which a system communicates with another component, service, or external capability.
- view modelcontrasts with · A view model is a data structure that supplies a user-interface view with the data required to render a particular output.
- code generationproduced by · Code generation is the production of program code by transforming inputs such as specifications, models, templates, or existing representations.
- entitycontrasts with · An entity is a distinct, identifiable person, object, event, or concept represented as a unit in a data, software, or semantic model.
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