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What is mvc?

aspnet/mvc — explained in plain English

Analysis updated 2026-06-26

★ 5,579C#Audience · developerComplexity · 3/5Setup · moderate

In one sentence

An archived read-only snapshot of the original ASP.NET Core MVC source code, Microsoft's C# framework for building web apps and HTTP APIs. Active development has moved to aspnet/AspNetCore.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((ASP.NET Core MVC))
    What It Does
      Web app framework
      HTTP API building
      MVC pattern
    Tech Stack
      C# language
      .NET runtime
      Razor templates
    Use Cases
      Web apps
      REST APIs
      Code reference
    Status
      Archived
      Read-only
      Moved to AspNetCore
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Code map

Detail Auto

An interactive map of this repo's files and how they connect — its source is parsed live in your browser. Click Visualize to build it.

filefunction / class

What do people build with it?

USE CASE 1

Browse historical ASP.NET Core MVC source to understand how controllers, views, and routing were originally implemented

USE CASE 2

Study how Razor templating was merged with Web API and classic MVC into one unified C# framework

USE CASE 3

Use as a reference when migrating from older ASP.NET MVC 5 or Web API 2 code to ASP.NET Core

USE CASE 4

Explore the community extensions listed in the README such as typed routing and fluent testing helpers

What is it built with?

C#.NETASP.NET CoreRazor

How does it compare?

aspnet/mvcbuiltbybel/bloatynosyclosedxml/closedxml
Stars5,5795,5825,586
LanguageC#C#C#
Setup difficultymoderateeasyeasy
Complexity3/51/52/5
Audiencedevelopergeneraldeveloper

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you get it running?

Difficulty · moderate Time to first run · 30min

This is an archived repo, for current development clone aspnet/AspNetCore instead, for ASP.NET MVC 5 look at AspNetWebStack.

So what is it?

This repository is an archived, read-only snapshot of the original ASP.NET Core MVC source code. ASP.NET Core MVC is a framework made by Microsoft for building web applications and HTTP APIs using C#. Development has since moved to a consolidated repository at github.com/aspnet/AspNetCore, and no new work happens here. ASP.NET Core MVC follows the Model-View-Controller pattern, a widely used way of organizing web application code that keeps data logic, page templates, and request-handling logic in separate places. The framework merged what were previously three separate Microsoft web tools: the classic MVC web app structure, Web API for building data endpoints, and Web Pages with the Razor templating syntax, into one unified system. Applications built with this framework can run inside IIS, the traditional Windows web server, or run as a self-contained process without any external web server. It is designed to support test-driven development, meaning the code can be unit tested cleanly without standing up a full web server during tests. The README points to several community extensions that were built on top of this framework: typed routing helpers, a fluent testing library, device detection for mobile sites, XML formatting extensions, and a tag helper for embedding images as inline data. These links may or may not still be current given the archived status of this project. For current ASP.NET Core MVC documentation and ongoing development, Microsoft directs users to the main AspNetCore repository and the official docs site. If you are looking for the older ASP.NET MVC 5 or Web API 2 codebases, those are in a separate repository called AspNetWebStack.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
Show me how to create a basic ASP.NET Core MVC controller that handles GET and POST requests, and a Razor view that renders a form with validation.
Prompt 2
Walk me through the routing system in ASP.NET Core MVC: how do URL patterns map to controller actions, and how do I define custom attribute routes?
Prompt 3
I'm migrating from ASP.NET MVC 5 to ASP.NET Core MVC. What are the main differences in project structure, dependency injection setup, and middleware?
Prompt 4
How does ASP.NET Core MVC support running without IIS as a self-contained process? Show me the minimal Program.cs setup.

Frequently asked questions

What is mvc?

An archived read-only snapshot of the original ASP.NET Core MVC source code, Microsoft's C# framework for building web apps and HTTP APIs. Active development has moved to aspnet/AspNetCore.

What language is mvc written in?

Mainly C#. The stack also includes C#, .NET, ASP.NET Core.

How hard is mvc to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated moderate, with roughly 30min to a first successful run.

Who is mvc for?

Mainly developer.

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