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Overview

Dev Showcase uses ASP.NET Core’s routing system to map incoming URLs to controller actions. The application has a sophisticated routing configuration that handles profile-specific routes and multilingual URLs.

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Route Configuration

All routes are configured in Program.cs using the routing middleware:
Program.cs:12
app.UseRouting();
This enables endpoint routing, which is used to define custom route patterns.

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Root Route Redirect

The root URL (/) automatically redirects to the default profile:
Program.cs:16
app.MapGet("/", context =>
{
    context.Response.Redirect("/dataScience", permanent: false);
    return Task.CompletedTask;
});
This ensures that visiting the homepage immediately shows the Data Science profile without requiring users to specify a profile.

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Language-Only Routes

When users access a language-specific URL without a profile, they’re redirected to the default profile:
Program.cs:22
app.MapGet("/{lang:regex(^(es|en)$)}", (string lang, HttpContext context) =>
{
    context.Response.Redirect($"/{lang}/dataScience", permanent: false);
    return Task.CompletedTask;
});

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Route Constraints

This route uses a regex constraint to ensure the lang parameter only matches valid language codes:
  • {lang:regex(^(es|en)$)} - Only accepts “es” (Spanish) or “en” (English)
  • Invalid values like /fr or /de will not match this route
/es          → Redirects to /es/dataScience
/en          → Redirects to /en/dataScience

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Profile Routes with Language

The primary routing pattern supports language-specific profile URLs:
Program.cs:28
app.MapControllerRoute(
    name: "profilesWithLang",
    pattern: "{lang}/{profile}",
    defaults: new { controller = "Home", action = "Profile" },
    constraints: new
    {
        lang = "^(es|en)$",
        profile = @"^(dataScience|webDev|dataAnalyst|DataAnalysis)$"
    });

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Route Parameters

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lang
string
required
Language code - must be “es” or “en”
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profile
string
required
Profile identifier - must be one of:
  • dataScience
  • webDev
  • dataAnalyst
  • DataAnalysis

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How It Works

1

URL matches pattern

User navigates to /en/dataScience
2

Constraints validated

  • lang = “en” ✓ (matches regex)
  • profile = “dataScience” ✓ (matches regex)
3

Controller action invoked

Routes to HomeController.Profile("dataScience")
4

View rendered

Returns the HomePage view with the specified profile

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Examples

/es/dataScience   → Data Science profile in Spanish
/es/webDev        → Web Developer profile in Spanish
/es/dataAnalyst   → Data Analyst profile in Spanish

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Profile Routes without Language

For convenience, profiles can be accessed without specifying a language:
Program.cs:38
app.MapControllerRoute(
    name: "profiles",
    pattern: "{profile}",
    defaults: new { controller = "Home", action = "Profile" },
    constraints: new { profile = @"^(dataScience|webDev|dataAnalyst|DataAnalysis)$" });
This allows shorter URLs like: 
/dataScience    → Uses default/cookie language
/webDev         → Uses default/cookie language
/dataAnalyst    → Uses default/cookie language
The language displayed depends on the user’s language preference cookie. If no cookie exists, the application defaults to Spanish.

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Default MVC Route

A fallback route handles standard MVC convention-based routing:
Program.cs:44
app.MapControllerRoute(
    name: "default",
    pattern: "{controller=Home}/{action=HomePage}/{id?}")
    .WithStaticAssets();

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Route Template Breakdown

SegmentDescriptionDefault
{controller=Home}Controller nameHome
{action=HomePage}Action methodHomePage
{id?}Optional parameterNone
This route is rarely used in the application since most navigation goes through the profile routes.

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Controller Implementation

The HomeController validates profiles and renders the appropriate view:
Controllers/HomeController.cs:12
private static readonly HashSet<string> ValidProfiles = new(StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase)
{
    "dataScience",
    "webDev",
    "dataAnalyst",
    "DataAnalysis"
};

public IActionResult Profile(string profile)
{
    if (!ValidProfiles.Contains(profile))
        return NotFound();

    ViewData["Profile"] = profile;
    return View("HomePage");
}

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Validation Logic

  1. Case-Insensitive Comparison: Uses StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase to handle variations
  2. 404 on Invalid: Returns NotFound() if profile doesn’t exist
  3. ViewData Storage: Passes profile name to the view via ViewData
The same view (HomePage.cshtml) is used for all profiles. JavaScript reads the ViewData["Profile"] value to load the appropriate content from the language JSON files.

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Route Precedence

Routes are evaluated in the order they’re defined:
Order matters! More specific routes must be defined before more general ones. If the default route were defined first, it would match before the profile routes could be evaluated.

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Adding New Profiles

To add a new profile route:
1

Update ValidProfiles HashSet

Add the profile name to the controller:
private static readonly HashSet<string> ValidProfiles = new(StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase)
{
    "dataScience",
    "webDev",
    "dataAnalyst",
    "DataAnalysis",
    "newProfile"  // Add here
};
2

Update Route Constraints

Add to the regex patterns in both route definitions:
constraints: new
{
    lang = "^(es|en)$",
    profile = @"^(dataScience|webDev|dataAnalyst|DataAnalysis|newProfile)$"
}
3

Add Content to Language Files

Add profile-specific content to en.json and es.json

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Testing Routes

You can test routes using curl or a browser: 
# With language
curl -I http://localhost:5000/en/dataScience

# Without language
curl -I http://localhost:5000/webDev

# Root redirect
curl -I http://localhost:5000/

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Route Debugging

Enable route debugging in development to see which routes match:
Program.cs
if (app.Environment.IsDevelopment())
{
    app.Use(async (context, next) =>
    {
        Console.WriteLine($"Request: {context.Request.Method} {context.Request.Path}");
        await next();
    });
}

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Next Steps

Localization

Learn how language switching and multilingual content work

Architecture Overview

Return to the architecture overview

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