Introduction

This article on Interview Questions and Answers of MVC basically covers most of the MVC 2, MVC
3 and MVC 4 topics that are most likely to be asked in job interviews/tests/exams.
The sole purpose of this article is to sum up important questions and answers that can be used
by developers to brush-up all about MVC before they take any interview of the same kind.

What is MVC?
MVC is a framework pattern that splits an applications implementation logic into three
component roles: models, views, and controllers.

Model: The business entity on which the overall application operates. Many applications use a
persistent storage mechanism (such as a database) to store data. MVC does not specifically
mention the data access layer because it is understood to be encapsulated by the Model.
View: The user interface that renders the Model into a form of interaction.
Controller: Handles a request from a View and updates the Model that results in a change of the
Model's state.
To implement MVC in .NET, we need mainly three classes (View, Controller and the Model).

Explain MVC Architecture?

The architecture is self explanatory. The browser (as usual) sends a request to IIS, IIS searches for
the route defined in MVC application and passes the request to the controller as per route, the
controller communicates with the model and passes the populated model (entity) to View (front
end), Views are populated with model properties, and are rendered on the browser, passing the
response to browser through IIS via controllers which invoked the particular View.

What are the new features of MVC2?

ASP.NET MVC 2 was released in March 2010. Its main features are:

o
o
o
o

Introduction of UI helpers with automatic scaffolding with customizable templates

Attribute-based model validation on both client and server
Strongly typed HTML helpers
Improved Visual Studio tooling
There were also lots of API enhancements and pro features, based on feedback from
developers building a variety of applications on ASP.NET MVC 1, such as:
Support for partitioning large applications into areas
Asynchronous controllers support
Support for rendering subsections of a page/site using Html.RenderAction
Lots of new helper functions, utilities, and API enhancements

What are the new features of MVC3?

ASP.NET MVC 3 shipped just 10 months after MVC 2 in Jan 2011. Some of the top features in
MVC 3 included:

The Razor view engine

Support for .NET 4 Data Annotations
Improved model validation
Greater control and flexibility with support for dependency resolution and global action filters
Better JavaScript support with unobtrusive JavaScript, jQuery Validation, and JSON binding
Use of NuGet to deliver software and manage dependencies throughout the platform

What are the new features of MVC4?

Following are the top features of MVC4:

ASP.NET Web API

Enhancements to default project templates
Mobile project template using jQuery Mobile
Display Modes
Task support for Asynchronous Controllers
Bundling and minification

Explain page lifecycle of an ASP.NET MVC?

Following processes are performed by ASP.NET MVC page:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

App initialization
Routing
Instantiate and execute controller
Locate and invoke controller action
Instantiate and render view

Advantages of MVC Framework?

1. Provides a clean separation of concerns between UI (Presentation layer), model (Transfer
objects/Domain Objects/Entities) and Business Logic (Controller)

2. Easy to UNIT Test

3. Improved reusability of views/model. One can have multiple views which can point to the same
model and vice versa
4. Improved structuring of the code

What do you mean by Separation of Concerns?

As per Wikipedia, 'the process of breaking a computer program into distinct features that overlap
in functionality as little as possible'. MVC design pattern aims to separate content from
presentation and data-processing from content.

Where do we see Separation of Concerns in MVC?

Between the data-processing (Model) and the rest of the application.
When we talk about Views and Controllers, their ownership itself explains separation. The views
are just the presentation form of an application, it does not have to know specifically about the
requests coming from controller. The Model is independent of View and Controllers, it only holds
business entities that can be passed to any View by the controller as required for exposing them
to the end user. The controller is independent of Views and Models, its sole purpose is to handle
requests and pass it on as per the routes defined and as per the need of rendering views. Thus
our business entities (model), business logic (controllers) and presentation logic (views) lie in
logical/physical layers independent of each other.

What is Razor View Engine?

Razor is the first major update to render HTML in MVC3. Razor was designed specifically as a
view engine syntax. It has one main focus: code-focused templating for HTML generation. Heres
how that same markup would be generated using Razor:
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@model MvcMusicStore.Models.Genre
@{ViewBag.Title = "Browse Albums";}
<div class="genre">
<h3><em>@Model.Name</em> Albums</h3>
<ul id="album-list">
@foreach (var album in Model.Albums)
{
<li>
<a href="@Url.Action("Details", new { id = album.AlbumId })">
<img alt="@album.Title" src="@album.AlbumArtUrl" />
<span>@album.Title</span>
</a>
</li>
}
</ul>
</div>

The Razor syntax is easier to type, and easier to read. Razor doesnt have the XML-like heavy
syntax. of the Web Forms view engine.

What is Unobtrusive JavaScript?

Unobtrusive JavaScript is a general term that conveys a general philosophy, similar to the term
REST (Representational State Transfer). The high-level description is that unobtrusive JavaScript
doesnt intermix JavaScript code in your page markup. For example, rather than hooking in via
event attributes like onclick and onsubmit, the unobtrusive JavaScript attaches to elements by
their ID or class, often based on the presence of other attributes (such as HTML5 dataattributes).
Its got semantic meaning, and all of it the tag structure, element attributes, and so on
should have a precise meaning. Strewing JavaScript gunk across the page to facilitate interaction
(Im looking at you, __doPostBack!) harms the content of the document.

What is JSON Binding?

MVC 3 included JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) binding support via the
new JsonValueProviderFactory, enabling the action methods to accept and model-bind
data in JSON format. This is especially useful in advanced Ajax scenarios like client templates and
data binding that need to post data back to the server.

What is Dependency Resolution?

MVC 3 introduced a new concept called a dependency resolver, which greatly simplified the use
of dependency injection in your applications. This made it easier to decouple application
components, making them more configurable and easier to test.
Support was added for the following scenarios:

Controllers (registering and injecting controller factories, injecting controllers)

Views (registering and injecting view engines, injecting dependencies into view pages)
Action filters (locating and injecting filters)
Model binders (registering and injecting)
Model validation providers (registering and injecting)
Model metadata providers (registering and injecting)
Value providers (registering and injecting)

What are Display Modes in MVC4?

Display modes use a convention-based approach to allow selecting different views based on the
browser making the request. The default view engine first looks for views with names ending
with .Mobile.cshtml when the browsers user agent indicates a known mobile device. For example,
if we have a generic view titled Index.cshtml and a mobile view titled Index.Mobile.cshtml, MVC 4
will automatically use the mobile view when viewed in a mobile browser.
Additionally, we can register your own custom device modes that will be based on your own
custom criteria all in just one code statement. For example, to register a WinPhone device
mode that would serve views ending with.WinPhone.cshtml to Windows Phone devices, youd use
the following code in the Application_Start method of your Global.asax:
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DisplayModeProvider.Instance.Modes.Insert(0, new DefaultDisplayMode("WinPhone")

{
ContextCondition = (context => context.GetOverriddenUserAgent().IndexOf
("Windows Phone OS", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase) >= 0)
});

What is AuthConfig.cs in MVC4?

AuthConfig.cs is used to configure security settings, including sites for OAuth login.

What is BundleConfig.cs in MVC4?

BundleConfig.cs in MVC4 is used to register bundles used by the bundling and minification
system. Several bundles are added by default, including jQuery, jQueryUI, jQuery validation,
Modernizr, and default CSS references.

What is FilterConfig.cs in MVC4?

This is used to register global MVC filters. The only filter registered by default is
the HandleErrorAttribute, but this is a great place to put other filter registrations.

What is RouteConfig.cs in MVC4?

RouteConfig.cs holds the granddaddy of the MVC config statements, Route configuration.

What is WebApiConfig.cs in MVC4?

Used to register Web API routes, as well as set any additional Web API configuration settings.

Whats new in adding controller in MVC4 application?

Previously (in MVC3 and MVC2), the Visual Studio Add Controller menu item only displayed when
we right-clicked on the Controllers folder. However, the use of the Controllers folder was purely
for organization. (MVC will recognize any class that implements the IController interface as
a Controller, regardless of its location in your application.) The MVC 4 Visual Studio tooling
has been modified to display the Add Controller menu item for any folder in your MVC project.
This allows us to organize your controllers however you would like, perhaps separating them into
logical groups or separating MVC and Web API controllers.

What are the software requirements of ASP.NET MVC4 application?

MVC 4 runs on the following Windows client operating systems:

Windows XP
Windows Vista
Windows 7
Windows 8
It runs on the following server operating systems:

Windows Server 2003

Windows Server 2008
Windows Server 2008 R2
MVC 4 development tooling is included with Visual Studio 2012 and can be installed on Visual
Studio 2010 SP1/Visual Web Developer 2010 Express SP1.

What are the various types of Application Templates used to create an MVC
application?
The various templates are as follows:
1. The Internet Application template: This contains the beginnings of an MVC web application
enough so that you can run the application immediately after creating it and see a few pages.
This template also includes some basic account management functions which run against the
ASP.NET Membership.
2. The Intranet Application template: The Intranet Application template was added as part of the
ASP.NET MVC 3 Tools Update. It is similar to the Internet Application template, but the account
management functions run against Windows accounts rather than the ASP.NET Membership
system.
3. The Basic template: This template is pretty minimal. It still has the basic folders, CSS, and MVC
application infrastructure in place, but no more. Running an application created using the Empty
template just gives you an error message.
Why use Basic template? The Basic template is intended for experienced MVC developers who
want to set up and configure things exactly how they want them.
4. The Empty template: The Basic template used to be called the Empty template, but developers
complained that it wasnt quite empty enough. With MVC 4, the previous Empty template was
renamed Basic, and the new Empty template is about as empty as we can get. It has the
assemblies and basic folder structure in place, but thats about it.
5. The Mobile Application template: The Mobile Application template is preconfigured with jQuery
Mobile to jump-start creating a mobile only website. It includes mobile visual themes, a touchoptimized UI, and support for Ajax navigation.
6. The Web API template: ASP.NET Web API is a framework for creating HTTP services. The Web API
template is similar to the Internet Application template but is streamlined for Web API
development. For instance, there is no user account management functionality, as Web API
account management is often significantly different from standard MVC account management.
Web API functionality is also available in the other MVC project templates, and even in non-MVC
project types.

What are the default Top level directories created when adding MVC4
application?
Default Top level Directories are:
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DIRECTORY
/Controllers

PURPOSE
To put Controller classes that handle URL requests

/Models
/Views
HTML.
/Scripts
/Images
/Content
/Filters
/App_Data
/App_Start

To put classes that represent and manipulate data and business objects
To put UI template files that are responsible for rendering output like
To
To
To
To
To
To

put JavaScript library files and scripts (.js)

put images used in your site
put CSS and other site content, other than scripts and images
put filter code.
store data files you want to read/write
put configuration code for features like Routing, Bundling, Web API.

What is namespace of ASP.NET MVC?

ASP.NET MVC namespaces as well as classes are located in assembly System.Web.Mvc.
Note: Some of the content has been taken from various books/articles.

What is System.Web.Mvc namespace?

This namespace contains classes and interfaces that support the MVC pattern for ASP.NET Web
applications. This namespace includes classes that represent controllers, controller factories,
action results, views, partial views, and model binders.

What is System.Web.Mvc.Ajax namespace?

System.Web.Mvc.Ajax namespace contains classes that supports Ajax scripting in an ASP.NET
MVC application. The namespace includes support for Ajax scripts and Ajax option settings as
well.

What is System.Web.Mvc.Async namespace?

System.Web.Mvc.Async namespace contains classes and interfaces that support asynchronous
actions in an ASP.NET MVC application.

What is System.Web.Mvc.Html namespace?

System.Web.Mvc.Html namespace contains classes that help render HTML controls in an MVC
application. This namespace includes classes that support forms, input controls, links, partial
views, and validation.

What is ViewData, ViewBag and TempData?

MVC provides us ViewData, ViewBag and TempData for passing data from controller, view and
in next requests as well. ViewData and ViewBag are similar to some extent
but TempData performs additional roles.

What are the roles and similarities between ViewData and ViewBag?

Maintains data when moving from controller to view

Passes data from controller to respective view

Their value becomes null when any redirection occurs, because their role is to provide a way to
communicate between controllers and views. Its a communication mechanism within the server
call.

What are the differences between ViewData and ViewBag? (taken from a
blog)

ViewData is a dictionary of objects that is derived from ViewDataDictionary class and

accessible usingstrings as keys.
ViewBag is a dynamic property that takes advantage of the new dynamic features in C# 4.0.
ViewData requires typecasting for complex data type and checks for null values to avoid error.
ViewBag doesnt require typecasting for complex data type.
NOTE: Although there might not be a technical advantage to choosing one format over the
other, there are some critical differences to be aware of between the two syntaxes.
One obvious difference is that ViewBag works only when the key being accessed is a valid C#
identifier. For example, if you place a value in ViewData["KeyWith Spaces"], you cant access
that value using ViewBag because the codewont compile.
Another key issue to be aware of is that dynamic values cannot be passed in as parameters to
extension methods. The C# compiler must know the real type of every parameter at compile time
in order for it to choose the correct extension method.
If any parameter is dynamic, compilation will fail. For example, this code will always
fail: @Html.TextBox("name", ViewBag.Name). To work around this, either
use ViewData["Name"] or cast the value to a specific type: (string) ViewBag.Name.

What is TempData?
TempData is a dictionary derived from the TempDataDictionary class and stored in short
lives session. It is astring key and object value.
It keeps the information for the time of an HTTP Request. This means only from one page to
another. It helps to maintain data when we move from one controller to another controller or
from one action to other action. In other words, when we redirect Tempdata helps to maintain
data between those redirects. It internally uses session variables. Temp data use during the
current and subsequent request only means it is used when we are sure that the next request will
be redirecting to next view. It requires typecasting for complex data type and checks for null
values to avoid error. Generally it is used to store only one time messages like error messages,
validation messages.

How can you define a dynamic property with the help of viewbag in
ASP.NET MVC?
Assign a key name with syntax, ViewBag.[Key]=[ Value] and value using equal to operator.
For example, you need to assign list of students to the dynamic Students property of ViewBag.

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List<string> students = new List<string>();

countries.Add("Akhil");
countries.Add("Ekta");
ViewBag.Students = students;
//Students is a dynamic property associated with ViewBag.

Note: Some of the content has been taken from various books/articles.

What is ViewModel (taken from stackoverflow)?

Accepted a view model represents data that you want to have displayed on your view/page.
Let's say that you have an Employee class that represents your employee domain model and it
contains the following 4 properties:
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public class Employee : IEntity

{
public int Id { get; set; } // Employee's unique identifier
public string FirstName { get; set; } // Employee's first name
public string LastName { get; set; } // Employee's last name
public DateTime DateCreated { get; set; } // Date when employee was created
}

View models differ from domain models in that view models only contain the data (represented
by properties) that you want to use on your view. For example, let's say that you want to add a
new employee record, your view model might look like this:
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public class CreateEmployeeViewModel

{
public string FirstName { get; set; }
public string LastName { get; set; }
}

As you can see, it only contains 2 of the properties of the employee domain model. Why is this
you may ask? Idmight not be set from the view, it might be auto generated by
the Employee table. AndDateCreated might also be set in the stored procedure or in the
service layer of your application. So Id and DateCreated is not needed in the view model.
When loading the view/page, the create action method in your employee controller will create an
instance of this view model, populate any fields if required, and then pass this view model to the
view:
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public class EmployeeController : Controller

{
private readonly IEmployeeService employeeService;
public EmployeeController(IEmployeeService employeeService)
{
this.employeeService = employeeService;

}
public ActionResult Create()
{
CreateEmployeeViewModel viewModel = new CreateEmployeeViewModel();
return View(viewModel);
}
public ActionResult Create(CreateEmployeeViewModel viewModel)
{
// Do what ever needs to be done before adding the employee to the database
}
}

Your view might look like this (assuming you are using ASP.NET MVC3 and razor):
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@model MyProject.Web.ViewModels.ProductCreateViewModel
<table>
<tr>
<td><b>First Name:</b></td>
<td>@Html.TextBoxFor(x => x.FirstName, new { maxlength = "50", size = "50" })
@Html.ValidationMessageFor(x => x.FirstName)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Last Name:</b></td>
<td>@Html.TextBoxFor(x => x.LastName, new { maxlength = "50", size = "50" })
@Html.ValidationMessageFor(x => x.LastName)
</td>
</tr>
</table>

Validation would thus be done only on FirstName and LastName. Using Fluent Validation, you
might have validation like this:
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public class CreateEmployeeViewModelValidator : AbstractValidator<CreateEmployeeViewModel>

{
public CreateEmployeeViewModelValidator()
{
RuleFor(x => x.FirstName)
.NotEmpty()
.WithMessage("First name required")
.Length(1, 50)
.WithMessage("First name must not be greater than 50 characters");
RuleFor(x => x.LastName)
.NotEmpty()
.WithMessage("Last name required")
.Length(1, 50)
.WithMessage("Last name must not be greater than 50 characters");
}
}

The key thing to remember is that the view model only represents the data that you want use.
You can imagine all the unneccessary code and validation if you have a domain model with 30

properties and you only want to update a single value. Given this scenario, you would only have
this one value/property in the view model and not the whole domain object.

How do you check for AJAX request with C# in MVC.NET?

The solution is independent of MVC.NET framework and is global across server side technologies.
Most modern AJAX applications utilize XmlHTTPRequest to send async request to the server.
Such requests will have distinct request header:
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X-Requested-With = XMLHTTPREQUEST

MVC.NET provides helper function to check for ajax requests which internally inspects XRequested-With request header to set IsAjax flag.

What are Scaffold templates?

These templates use the Visual Studio T4 templating system to generate a view based on the
model type selected. Scaffolding in ASP.NET MVC can generate the boilerplate code we need for
create, read, update, and delete (CRUD) functionality in an application. The scaffolding templates
can examine the type definition for, and then generate a controller and the controllers
associated views. The scaffolding knows how to name controllers, how to name views, what code
needs to go in each component, and where to place all these pieces in the project for the
application to work.

What are the types of Scaffolding Templates?

Various types are as follows:
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SCAFFOLD
Empty
syntax.
Create
Delete
Details
the

DESCRIPTION
Creates empty view. Only the model type is specified using the model
Creates a view with a form for creating new instances of the model.
Generates a label and input field for each property of the model type.
Creates a view with a form for deleting existing instances of the model.
Displays a label and the current value for each property of the model.
Creates a view that displays a label and the value for each property of

Edit
List

model type.
Creates a view with a form for editing existing instances of the model.
Generates a label and input field for each property of the model type.
Creates a view with a table of model instances. Generates a column
for each property of the model type. Make sure to pass an
IEnumerable<YourModelType> to this view from your action method.
The view also contains links to actions for performing the
create/edit/delete operation.

Show an example of difference in syntax in Razor and WebForm View?

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Razor <span>@model.Message</span>
Web Forms <span><%: model.Message %></span>

Code expressions in Razor are always HTML encoded. This Web Forms syntax also automatically
HTML encodes the value.

What are Code Blocks in Views?

Unlike code expressions, which are evaluated and outputted to the response, blocks of code are
simply sections of code that are executed. They are useful for declaring variables that we may
need to use later.

Razor
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@{
int x = 123;
string y = ?because.?;
}

Web Forms
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<%
int x = 123;
string y = "because.";
%>

What is HelperPage.IsAjax Property?

HelperPage.IsAjax gets a value that indicates whether Ajax is being used during the request
of the Web page.

Namespace: System.Web.WebPages
Assembly: System.Web.WebPages.dll
However, the same can be achieved by checking requests header directly:

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Request["X-Requested-With"] == XmlHttpRequest.

Explain combining text and markup in Views with the help of an example?
This example shows what intermixing text and markup looks like using Razor as compared to
Web Forms:

Razor
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@foreach (var item in items) {

<span>Item @item.Name.</span>
}

Web Forms
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<% foreach (var item in items) { %>

<span>Item <%: item.Name %>.</span>
<% } %>

Explain Repository Pattern in ASP.NET MVC?

In simple terms, a repository basically works as a mediator between our business logic layer and
our data access layer of the application. Sometimes, it would be troublesome to expose the data
access mechanism directly to business logic layer, it may result in redundant code for accessing
data for similar entities or it may result in a code that is hard to test or understand. To overcome
these kinds of issues, and to write an Interface driven and test driven code to access data, we use
Repository Pattern. The repository makes queries to the data source for the data, thereafter maps
the data from the data source to a business entity/domain object, finally and persists the changes
in the business entity to the data source. According to MSDN, a repository separates the business
logic from the interactions with the underlying data source or Web service. The separation
between the data and business tiers has three benefits:

It centralizes the data logic or Web service access logic.

It provides a substitution point for the unit tests.
It provides a flexible architecture that can be adapted as the overall design of the application
evolves.
In Repository, we write our whole business logic of CRUD operations with the help of Entity
Framework classes, that will not only result in meaningful test driven code but will also reduce
our controller code of accessing data.

How can you call a JavaScript function/method on the change of Dropdown

List in MVC?
Create a JavaScript method:

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<script type="text/javascript">
function selectedIndexChanged() {
}
</script>
Invoke the method:
<%:Html.DropDownListFor(x => x.SelectedProduct,
new SelectList(Model.Users, "Value", "Text"),
"Please Select a User", new { id = "ddlUsers",
onchange="selectedIndexChanged()" })%>

Explain Routing in MVC?

A route is a URL pattern that is mapped to a handler. The handler can be a physical file, such as
an .aspx file in a Web Forms application. Routing module is responsible for mapping incoming
browser requests to particular MVC controller actions.
Routing within the ASP.NET MVC framework serves two main purposes:

It matches incoming requests that would not otherwise match a file on the file system and maps
the requests to a controller action.
It constructs outgoing URLs that correspond to controller actions.

How route table is created in ASP.NET MVC?

When an MVC application first starts, the Application_Start() method in global.asax is
called. This method calls the RegisterRoutes() method. The RegisterRoutes() method
creates the route table for MVC application.

What are Layouts in ASP.NET MVC Razor?

Layouts in Razor help maintain a consistent look and feel across multiple views within our
application. As compared to Web Forms, layouts serve the same purpose as master pages, but
offer both a simpler syntax and greater flexibility.
We can use a layout to define a common template for your site (or just part of it). This template
contains one or more placeholders that the other views in your application provide content for. In
some ways, its like an abstract base class for your views.
E.g. declared at the top of view as:
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@{
Layout = "~/Views/Shared/SiteLayout.cshtml";
}

What is ViewStart?
For group of views that all use the same layout, this can get a bit redundant and harder to
maintain.

The _ViewStart.cshtml page can be used to remove this redundancy. The code within this file is
executed before the code in any view placed in the same directory. This file is also recursively
applied to any view within a subdirectory.
When we create a default ASP.NET MVC project, we find there is already a _ViewStart .cshtml file
in the Viewsdirectory. It specifies a default layout:
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@{
Layout = "~/Views/Shared/_Layout.cshtml";
}

Because this code runs before any view, a view can override the Layout property and choose a
different one. If a set of views shares common settings, the _ViewStart.cshtml file is a useful place
to consolidate these common view settings. If any view needs to override any of the common
settings, the view can set those values to another value.
Note: Some of the content has been taken from various books/articles.

What are HTML Helpers?

HTML helpers are methods we can invoke on the HTML property of a view. We also have access
to URL helpers (via the Url property), and AJAX helpers (via the Ajax property). All these helpers
have the same goal: to make views easy to author. The URL helper is also available from within
the controller. Most of the helpers, particularly the HTML helpers, output HTML markup. For
example, the BeginForm helper is a helper we can use to build a robust form tag for our search
form, but without using lines and lines of code:
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@using (Html.BeginForm("Search", "Home", FormMethod.Get)) {

<input type="text" name="q" />
<input type="submit" value="Search" />
}

What is Html.ValidationSummary?
The ValidationSummary helper displays an unordered list of all validation errors in
the ModelState dictionary. The Boolean parameter you are using (with a value of true) is
telling the helper to exclude property-level errors. In other words, you are telling the summary to
display only the errors in ModelState associated with the model itself, and exclude any errors
associated with a specific model property. We will be displaying property-level errors separately.
Assume you have the following code somewhere in the controller action rendering the edit view:
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ModelState.AddModelError("", "This is all wrong!");

ModelState.AddModelError("Title", "What a terrible name!");

The first error is a model-level error, because you didnt provide a key (or provided an empty key)
to associate the error with a specific property. The second error you associated with

the Title property, so in your view it will not display in the validation summary area (unless you
remove the parameter to the helper method, or change the value to false). In this scenario, the
helper renders the following HTML:
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<div class="validation-summary-errors">
<ul>
<li>This is all wrong!</li>
</ul>
</div>

Other overloads of the ValidationSummary helper enable you to provide header text and set
specific HTML attributes.
NOTE: By convention, the ValidationSummary helper renders the CSS class validationsummary-errors along with any specific CSS classes you provide. The default MVC project
template includes some styling to display these items in red, which you can change in styles.css.

What are Validation Annotations?

Data annotations are attributes you can find
in System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations namespace. These attributes provide serverside validation, and the framework also supports client-side validation when you use one of the
attributes on a model property. You can use four attributes in
the DataAnnotations namespace to cover common validation scenarios,
Required, String Length, Regular Expression, Range.

What is Html.Partial?
The Partial helper renders a partial view into a string. Typically, a partial view contains
reusable markup you want to render from inside multiple different views. Partial has four
overloads:
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public void Partial(string partialViewName);

public void Partial(string partialViewName, object model);
public void Partial(string partialViewName, ViewDataDictionary viewData);
public void Partial(string partialViewName, object model,
ViewDataDictionary viewData);

What is Html.RenderPartial?
The RenderPartial helper is similar to Partial, but RenderPartial writes directly to the
response output stream instead of returning a string. For this reason, you must
place RenderPartial inside a code block instead of a code expression. To illustrate, the
following two lines of code render the same output to the output stream:
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@{Html.RenderPartial("AlbumDisplay "); }

@Html.Partial("AlbumDisplay ")

If they are the same, then which one to use?

In general, you should prefer Partial to RenderPartial because Partial is more
convenient (you dont have to wrap the call in a code block with curly braces).
However, RenderPartial may result in better performance because it writes directly to the
response stream, although it would require a lot of use (either high site traffic or repeated calls in
a loop) before the difference would be noticeable.

How do you return a partial view from controller?

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return PartialView(options); //options could be Model or View name

What are different ways of returning a View?

There are different ways for returning/rendering a view in MVC Razor. E.g. return View(),
returnRedirectToAction(), return Redirect() and return RedirectToRoute().

Conclusion
I hope we covered a lot of questions to brush-up. Since MVC is very vast now, I know we have
missed a lot stuff too. The content in the question and answer form is also taken from few
renowned books like Professional ASP.NET MVC4 from Wrox, and few of the content is taken
from my MVC articles posted earlier. My upcoming articles will provide interview questions
for EntityFramework too.

1. Explain MVC (Model-View-Controller) in general?

MVC (Model-View-Controller) is an architectural software pattern that basically decouples various
components of a web application. By using MVC pattern, we can develop applications that are
more flexible to changes without affecting the other components of our application.

"Model" is basically domain data.

"View" is user interface to render domain data.
"Controller" translates user actions into appropriate operations performed on model.

2. What is ASP.NET MVC?

ASP.NET MVC is a web development framework from Microsoft that is based on MVC (ModelView-Controller) architectural design pattern. Microsoft has streamlined the development of MVC
based applications using ASP.NET MVC framework.

3. Difference between ASP.NET MVC and ASP.NET WebForms?

ASP.NET Web Forms uses Page controller pattern approach for rendering layout, whereas
ASP.NET MVC uses Front controller approach. In case of Page controller approach, every page
has its own controller, i.e., code-behind file that processes the request. On the other hand, in
ASP.NET MVC, a common controller for all pages processes the requests.
Follow the link for the difference between the ASP.NET MVC and ASP.NET WebForms.

4. What are the Core features of ASP.NET MVC?

Core features of ASP.NET MVC framework are:

Clear separation of application concerns (Presentation and Business Logic)

An extensible and pluggable framework
Extensive support for ASP.NET Routing
Support for existing ASP.NET features
Follow for detailed understanding of the above mentioned core features.

5. Can you please explain the request flow in ASP.NET MVC framework?
Request flow for ASP.NET MVC framework is as follows:
Request hits the controller coming from client. Controller plays its role and decides which model
to use in order to serve the request further passing that model to view which then transforms the
model and generates an appropriate response that is rendered to the client.

6. What is Routing in ASP.NET MVC?

In case of a typical ASP.NET application, incoming requests are mapped to physical files such
as .aspx file. ASP.NET MVC framework uses friendly URLs that more easily describe users action
but are not mapped to physical files.
ASP.NET MVC framework uses a routing engine, that maps URLs to controller classes. We can
define routing rules for the engine, so that it can map incoming request URLs to appropriate
controller.
Practically, when a user types a URL in a browser window for an ASP.NET MVC application and
presses go button, routing engine uses routing rules that are defined in Global.asax file in order
to parse the URL and find out the path of corresponding controller.

7. What is the difference between ViewData, ViewBag and TempData?

In order to pass data from controller to view and in next subsequent request, ASP.NET MVC
framework provides different options i.e., ViewData, ViewBag and TempData.
Both ViewBag and ViewData are used to communicate between controller and corresponding
view. But this communication is only for server call, it becomes null if redirect occurs. So, in
short, it's a mechanism to maintain state between controller and corresponding view.

ViewData is a dictionary object while ViewBag is a dynamic property (a new C# 4.0

feature). ViewData being adictionary object is accessible using strings as keys and also
requires typecasting for complex types. On the other hand, ViewBag doesn't have typecasting
and null checks.
TempData is also a dictionary object that stays for the time of an HTTP Request.
So, Tempdata can be used to maintain data between redirects, i.e., from one controller to the
other controller.

8. What are Action Methods in ASP.NET MVC?

I already explained about request flow in ASP.NET MVC framework that request coming from
client hits controller first. Actually MVC application determines the corresponding controller by
using routing rules defined in Global.asax. And controllers have specific methods for each user
actions. Each request coming to controller is for a specific ActionMethod. The following code
example, ShowBooks is an example of an Action method.
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public ViewResult ShowBooks(int id)

{
var computerBook = db.Books.Where(p => P.BookID == id).First();
return View(computerBook);
}

9. Explain the role of Model in ASP.NET MVC?

One of the core features of ASP.NET MVC is that it separates the input and UI logic from business
logic. Role of Model in ASP.NET MVC is to contain all application logic including validation,
business and data access logic except view, i.e., input and controller, i.e., UI logic.
Model is normally responsible for accessing data from some persistent medium like database and
manipulate it.

10. What are Action Filters in ASP.NET MVC?

If we need to apply some specific logic before or after action methods, we use action filters. We
can apply these action filters to a controller or a specific controller action. Action filters are
basically custom classes that provide a means for adding pre-action or post-action behavior to
controller actions.
For example:

Authorize filter can be used to restrict access to a specific user or a role.

OutputCache filter can cache the output of a controller action for a specific duration.

What is MVC(Model view controller)?

MVC is architectural pattern which separates the representation and the user interaction. Its
divided in three broader sections, Model, View and Controller. Below is how each one of
them handles the task.

The View is responsible for look and feel.

Model represents the real world object and provides data to the View.
The Controller is responsible to take the end user request and load the appropriate Model
and View.

Figure: - MVC (Model view controller)

Can you explain the complete flow of MVC?

Below are the steps how control flows in MVC (Model, view and controller) architecture:

All end user requests are first sent to the controller.

The controller depending on the request decides which model to load. The controller loads the
model and attaches the model with the appropriate view.
The final view is then attached with the model data and sent as a response to the end user on the
browser.

Is MVC suitable for both windows and web application?

MVC architecture is suited for web application than windows. For window application MVP i.e.
Model view presenter is more
applicable.IfyouareusingWPFandSLMVVMismoresuitableduetobindings.

What are the benefits of using MVC?

There are two big benefits of MVC:Separation of concerns is achieved as we are moving the code behind to a separate class file. By
moving the binding code to a separate class file we can reuse the code to a great extent.
Automated UI testing is possible because now the behind code (UI interaction code) has moved
to a simple.NET class. This gives us opportunity to write unit tests and automate manual testing.

Is MVC different from a 3 layered architecture?

MVC is an evolution of a 3 layered traditional architecture. Many components of 3 layered
architecture are part of MVC. So below is how the mapping goes.
Functionality
Look and Feel
UI logic
Business logic /validations
Request is first sent to
Accessing data

3 layered / tiered architecture

User interface.
User interface.
Middle layer
User interface
Data access layer.

Model view controller architecture

View.
Controller
Model.
Controller.
Data access layer.

Figure: - 3 layered architecture

What is the latest version of MVC?

When this note was written, four versions where released of MVC. MVC 1 , MVC 2, MVC 3 and
MVC 4. So the latest is MVC 4.

What is the difference between each version of MVC?

Below is a detail table of differences. But during interview its difficult to talk about all of them
due to time limitation. So I have highlighted important differences which you can run through
before the interviewer.
MVC 2

MVC 3

MVC 4

Client-Side Validation Templated Helpers

Areas Asynchronous
ControllersHtml.ValidationSummary Helper
Method DefaultValueAttribute in Action-Method
Parameters Binding Binary Data with Model
Binders DataAnnotations Attributes ModelValidator Providers New RequireHttpsAttribute
Action Filter Templated Helpers Display ModelLevel Errors

Razor

ASP.NET Web A

Readymade project templates

Refreshed and m
templatesNew m

HTML 5 enabled templatesSupport for

Multiple View EnginesJavaScript and Ajax Many new featu
Model Validation Improvements

Enhanced suppor

What are routing in MVC?

Routing helps you to define a URL structure and map the URL with the controller.
For instance lets say we want that when any user types
http://localhost/View/ViewCustomer/, it goes to the Customer Controller and invokes
DisplayCustomer action. This is defined by adding an entry in to the routes collection using
the maproute function. Below is the under lined code which shows how the URL structure and
mapping with controller and action is defined.
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routes.MapRoute(
"View", // Route name
"View/ViewCustomer/{id}", // URL with parameters
new { controller = "Customer", action = "DisplayCustomer",
id = UrlParameter.Optional }); // Parameter defaults

Where is the route mapping code written?

The route mapping code is written in the global.asax file.

Can we map multiple URLs to the same action?

Yes , you can , you just need to make two entries with different key names and specify the same
controller and action.

How can we navigate from one view to other view using hyperlink?
By using ActionLink method as shown in the below code. The below code will create a simple
URL which help to navigate to the Home controller and invoke the GotoHome action.
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<%= Html.ActionLink("Home","Gotohome") %>

How can we restrict MVC actions to be invoked only by GET or POST?

We can decorate the MVC action by HttpGet or HttpPost attribute to restrict the type of HTTP
calls. For instance you can see in the below code snippet the DisplayCustomer action can only
be invoked by HttpGet. If we try to make Http post on DisplayCustomer it will throw an error.
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[HttpGet]
public ViewResult DisplayCustomer(int id)
{
Customer objCustomer = Customers[id];
return View("DisplayCustomer",objCustomer);
}

How can we maintain session in MVC?

Sessions can be maintained in MVC by 3 ways tempdata ,viewdata and viewbag.

What is the difference between tempdata ,viewdata and viewbag?

Figure:- difference between tempdata , viewdata and viewbag

Temp data: -Helps to maintain data when you move from one controller to other controller or
from one action to other action. In other words when you redirect,tempdata helps to maintain
data between those redirects. It internally uses session variables.
View data: - Helps to maintain data when you move from controller to view.
View Bag: - Its a dynamic wrapper around view data. When you use Viewbag type casting is
not required. It uses the dynamic keyword internally.

Figure:-dynamic keyword
Session variables: - By using session variables we can maintain data from any entity to any
entity.
Hidden fields and HTML controls: - Helps to maintain data from UI to controller only. So you
can send data from HTML controls or hidden fields to the controller using POST or GET HTTP
methods.
Below is a summary table which shows different mechanism of persistence.
Maintains data between
Controller to Controller
Controller to View
View to Controller

ViewData/ViewBag TempData
No
Yes
Yes
No
No
No

Hidden fields
No
No
Yes

Session
Yes
Yes
Yes

What are partial views in MVC?

Partial view is a reusable view (like a user control) which can be embedded inside other view. For
example lets say all your pages of your site have a standard structure with left menu, header and
footer as shown in the image below.

Figure:- partial views in MVC

For every page you would like to reuse the left menu, header and footer controls. So you can go
and create partial views for each of these items and then you call that partial view in the main
view.

How did you create partial view and consume the same?
When you add a view to your project you need to check the Create partial view check box.

Figure:-createpartialview
Once the partial view is created you can then call the partial view in the main view using
Html.RenderPartial method as shown in the below code snippet.

Collapse | Copy Code

<body>
<div>
<% Html.RenderPartial("MyView"); %>
</div>
</body>

How can we do validations in MVC?

One of the easy ways of doing validation in MVC is by using data annotations. Data annotations
are nothing but attributes which you can be applied on the model properties. For example in the
below code snippet we have a simple customer class with a property customercode.
ThisCustomerCode property is tagged with a Required data annotation attribute. In other
words if this model is not provided customer code it will not accept the same.
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public class Customer

{
[Required(ErrorMessage="Customer code is required")]
public string CustomerCode
{
set;
get;
}
}

In order to display the validation error message we need to use ValidateMessageFor method
which belongs to the Html helper class.
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<% using (Html.BeginForm("PostCustomer", "Home", FormMethod.Post))

{ %>
<%=Html.TextBoxFor(m => m.CustomerCode)%>
<%=Html.ValidationMessageFor(m => m.CustomerCode)%>
<input type="submit" value="Submit customer data" />
<%}%>

Later in the controller we can check if the model is proper or not by using ModelState.IsValid
property and accordingly we can take actions.
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public ActionResult PostCustomer(Customer obj)

{
if (ModelState.IsValid)
{
obj.Save();
return View("Thanks");
}
else
{
return View("Customer");
}
}

Below is a simple view of how the error message is displayed on the view.

Figure:- validations in MVC

Can we display all errors in one go?

Yes we can, use ValidationSummary method from HTML helper class.
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<%= Html.ValidationSummary() %>

What are the other data annotation attributes for validation in MVC?
If you want to check string length, you can use StringLength.
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[StringLength(160)]
public string FirstName { get; set; }

In case you want to use regular expression, you can use RegularExpression attribute.
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[RegularExpression(@"[A-Za-z0-9._%+-]+@[A-Za-z0-9.-]+\.[A-Za-z]{2,4}")]public string Email

{ get; set; }

If you want to check whether the numbers are in range, you can use the Range attribute.
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[Range(10,25)]public int Age { get; set; }

Some time you would like to compare value of one field with other field, we can use the
Compare attribute.
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public string Password { get; set; }[Compare("Password")]public string ConfirmPass { get;

set; }

In case you want to get a particular error message , you can use the Errors collection.

Collapse | Copy Code

var ErrMessage = ModelState["Email"].Errors[0].ErrorMessage;

If you have created the model object yourself you can explicitly call TryUpdateModel in your
controller to check if the object is valid or not.
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TryUpdateModel(NewCustomer);

In case you want add errors in the controller you can use AddModelError function.
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ModelState.AddModelError("FirstName", "This is my server-side error.");

How can we enable data annotation validation on client side?

Its a two-step process first reference the necessary jquery files.
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<script src="<%= Url.Content("~/Scripts/jquery-1.5.1.js") %>"

type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="<%= Url.Content("~/Scripts/jquery.validate.js") %>"
type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="<%= Url.Content("~/Scripts/jquery.validate.unobtrusive.js") %>"
type="text/javascript"></script>

Second step is to call EnableClientValidation method.

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<% Html.EnableClientValidation(); %>

What is razor in MVC?

Its a light weight view engine. Till MVC we had only one view type i.e.ASPX, Razor was
introduced in MVC 3.

Why razor when we already had ASPX?

Razor is clean, lightweight and syntaxes are easy as compared to ASPX. For example in ASPX to
display simple time we need to write.
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<%=DateTime.Now%>

In Razor its just one line of code.

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@DateTime.Now

So which is a better fit Razor or ASPX?

As per Microsoft razor is more preferred because its light weight and has simple syntaxes.

How can you do authentication and authorization in MVC?

You can use windows or forms authentication for MVC.

How to implement windows authentication for MVC?

For windows authentication you need to go and modify the web.config file and set
authentication mode to windows.
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<authentication mode="Windows"/>
<authorization>
<deny users="?"/>
</authorization>

Then in the controller or on the action you can use the Authorize attribute which specifies
which users have access to these controllers and actions. Below is the code snippet for the same.
Now only the users specified in the controller and action can access the same.
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[Authorize(Users= @"WIN-3LI600MWLQN\Administrator")]
public class StartController : Controller
{
//
// GET: /Start/
[Authorize(Users = @"WIN-3LI600MWLQN\Administrator")]
public ActionResult Index()
{
return View("MyView");
}
}

How do you implement forms authentication in MVC?

Forms authentication is implemented the same way as we do in ASP.NET. So the first step is to
set authentication mode equal to forms. The loginUrl points to a controller here rather than
page.
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<authentication mode="Forms">
<forms loginUrl="~/Home/Login"
</authentication>

timeout="2880"/>

We also need to create a controller where we will check the user is proper or not. If the user is
proper we will set the cookie value.
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public ActionResult Login()

{
if ((Request.Form["txtUserName"] == "Shiv") && (Request.Form["txtPassword"] == "Shiv@123"))
{
FormsAuthentication.SetAuthCookie("Shiv",true);
return View("About");
}
else
{
return View("Index");
}
}

All the other actions need to be attributed with Authorize attribute so that any unauthorized
user if he makes a call to these controllers it will redirect to the controller ( in this case the
controller is Login) which will do authentication.
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[Authorize]
PublicActionResult Default()
{
return View();
}
[Authorize]
publicActionResult About()
{
return View();
}

How to implement Ajax in MVC?

You can implement Ajax in two ways in MVC:

Ajax libraries
Jquery
Below is a simple sample of how to implement Ajax by using Ajax helper library. In the below
code you can see we have a simple form which is created by using Ajax.BeginForm syntax. This
form calls a controller action called as getCustomer. So now the submit action click will be an
asynchronous ajax call.
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<script language="javascript">
function OnSuccess(data1)
{
// Do something here
}
</script>
<div>
<%
var AjaxOpt = new AjaxOptions{OnSuccess="OnSuccess"};
%>

<% using (Ajax.BeginForm("getCustomer","MyAjax",AjaxOpt)) { %>

<input id="txtCustomerCode" type="text" /><br />
<input id="txtCustomerName" type="text" /><br />
<input id="Submit2" type="submit" value="submit"/></div>
<%} %>

In case you want to make ajax calls on hyperlink clicks you can use Ajax.ActionLink function as
shown in the below code.

Figure:- implement Ajax in MVC

So if you want to create Ajax asynchronous hyperlink by name GetDate which calls the
GetDate function on the controller , below is the code for the same. Once the controller
responds this data is displayed in the HTML DIV tag by name DateDiv.
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<span id="DateDiv" />

<%:
Ajax.ActionLink("Get Date","GetDate",
new AjaxOptions {UpdateTargetId = "DateDiv" })
%>

Below is the controller code. You can see how GetDate function has a pause of 10 seconds.
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public class Default1Controller : Controller

{
public string GetDate()
{
Thread.Sleep(10000);
return DateTime.Now.ToString();
}
}

The second way of making Ajax call in MVC is by using Jquery. In the below code you can see we
are making an ajax POST call to a URL /MyAjax/getCustomer. This is done by using $.post. All
this logic is put in to a function called as GetData and you can make a call to the GetData
function on a button or a hyper link click event as you want.
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function GetData()
{
var url = "/MyAjax/getCustomer";
$.post(url, function (data)
{
$("#txtCustomerCode").val(data.CustomerCode);
$("#txtCustomerName").val(data.CustomerName);
}
)
}

What kind of events can be tracked in AJAX?

Figure:- tracked in AJAX

What is the difference between ActionResult and ViewResult?

ActionResult is an abstract class while ViewResult derives from ActionResult class.
ActionResult has several derived classes like ViewResult ,JsonResult , FileStreamResult and
so on.
ActionResult can be used to exploit polymorphism and dynamism. So if you are returning
different types of view dynamically ActionResult is the best thing. For example in the below
code snippet you can see we have a simple action called as DynamicView. Depending on the
flag (IsHtmlView) it will either return ViewResult or JsonResult.
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public ActionResult DynamicView()

{
if (IsHtmlView)
return View(); // returns simple ViewResult
else
return Json(); // returns JsonResult view
}

What are the different types of results in MVC?

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Note: -Its difficult to remember all the 12 types. But some important ones you can
remember for the interview are ActionResult, ViewResult and JsonResult. Below is a
detailed list for your interest.

There 12 kinds of results in MVC, at the top is ActionResultclass which is a base class that
canhave11subtypessas listed below: 1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.

ViewResult - Renders a specified view to the response stream

PartialViewResult - Renders a specified partial view to the response stream
EmptyResult - An empty response is returned
RedirectResult - Performs an HTTP redirection to a specified URL
RedirectToRouteResult - Performs an HTTP redirection to a URL that is determined by the routing
engine, based on given route data
JsonResult - Serializes a given ViewData object to JSON format
JavaScriptResult - Returns a piece of JavaScript code that can be executed on the client
ContentResult - Writes content to the response stream without requiring a view
FileContentResult - Returns a file to the client
FileStreamResult - Returns a file to the client, which is provided by a Stream
FilePathResult - Returns a file to the client

What are ActionFiltersin MVC?

ActionFilters helps you to perform logic while MVC action is executing or after a MVC action
has executed.

Figure:- ActionFiltersin MVC

Action filters are useful in the following scenarios:1.
2.
3.
4.

Implement post-processinglogicbeforethe action happens.

Cancel a current execution.
Inspect the returned value.
Provide extra data to the action.
You can create action filters by two ways:-

Inline action filter.

Creating an ActionFilter attribute.

To create a inline action attribute we need to implement IActionFilter interface.The

IActionFilter interface has two methods OnActionExecuted and OnActionExecuting. We can
implement pre-processing logic or cancellation logic in these methods.
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public class Default1Controller : Controller , IActionFilter

{
public ActionResult Index(Customer obj)
{
return View(obj);
}
void IActionFilter.OnActionExecuted(ActionExecutedContext filterContext)
{
Trace.WriteLine("Action Executed");
}
void IActionFilter.OnActionExecuting(ActionExecutingContext filterContext)
{
Trace.WriteLine("Action is executing");
}
}

The problem with inline action attribute is that it cannot be reused across controllers. So we can
convert the inline action filter to an action filter attribute. To create an action filter attribute we
need to inherit from ActionFilterAttribute and implement IActionFilter interface as shown in
the below code.
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public class MyActionAttribute : ActionFilterAttribute , IActionFilter

{
void IActionFilter.OnActionExecuted(ActionExecutedContext filterContext)
{
Trace.WriteLine("Action Executed");
}
void IActionFilter.OnActionExecuting(ActionExecutingContext filterContext)
{
Trace.WriteLine("Action executing");
}
}

Later we can decorate the controllers on which we want the action attribute to execute. You can
see in the below code I have decorated the Default1Controller with MyActionAttribute class
which was created in the previous code.
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[MyActionAttribute]
public class Default1Controller : Controller
{
public ActionResult Index(Customer obj)
{
return View(obj);
}
}

Can we create our custom view engine using MVC?

Yes, we can create our own custom view engine in MVC. To create our own custom view engine
we need to follow 3 steps:Let say we want to create a custom view engine where in the user can type a command like
<DateTime> and it should display the current date and time.
Step 1:- We need to create a class which implements IView interface. In this class we should
write the logic of how the view will be rendered in the render function. Below is a simple code
snippet for the same.
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public class MyCustomView : IView

{
private string _FolderPath; // Define where
public string FolderPath
{
get { return _FolderPath; }
set { _FolderPath = value; }
}

our views are stored

public void Render(ViewContext viewContext, System.IO.TextWriter writer)

{
// Parsing logic <dateTime>
// read the view file
string strFileData = File.ReadAllText(_FolderPath);
// we need to and replace <datetime> datetime.now value
string strFinal = strFileData.Replace("<DateTime>", DateTime.Now.ToString());
// this replaced data has to sent for display
writer.Write(strFinal);
}
}

Step 2 :-We need to create a class which inherits from VirtualPathProviderViewEngine and in
this class we need to provide the folder path and the extension of the view name. For instance for
razor the extension is cshtml , for aspx the view extension is .aspx , so in the same way for our
custom view we need to provide an extension. Below is how the code looks like. You can see the
ViewLocationFormats is set to the Views folder and the extension is .myview.
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public class MyViewEngineProvider : VirtualPathProviderViewEngine

{
// We will create the object of Mycustome view
public MyViewEngineProvider() // constructor
{
// Define the location of the View file
this.ViewLocationFormats = new string[] { "~/Views/{1}/{0}.myview",
"~/Views/Shared/{0}.myview" }; //location and extension of our views
}
protected override IView CreateView(ControllerContext controllerContext, string
viewPath, string masterPath)
{
var physicalpath = controllerContext.HttpContext.Server.MapPath(viewPath);
MyCustomView obj = new MyCustomView(); // Custom view engine class
obj.FolderPath = physicalpath; // set the path where the views will be stored
return obj; // returned this view paresing logic so that it can be registered
in the view engine collection
}

protected override IView CreatePartialView(ControllerContext controllerContext,

string partialPath)
{
var physicalpath = controllerContext.HttpContext.Server.MapPath(partialPath);
MyCustomView obj = new MyCustomView(); // Custom view engine class
obj.FolderPath = physicalpath; // set the path where the views will be stored
return obj; // returned this view paresing logic so that it can be registered
in the view engine collection
}
}

Step 3:- We need to register the view in the custom view collection. The best place to register
the custom view engine in the ViewEngines collection is the global.asax file. Below is the code
snippet for the same.
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protected void Application_Start()

{
// Step3 :- register this object in the view engine collection
ViewEngines.Engines.Add(new MyViewEngineProvider());
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; ">
</span>..
}

Below is a simple output of the custom view written using the commands defined at the top.

Figure:-customviewengineusingMVC
If you invoke this view you should see the following output.

How to send result back in JSON format in MVC?

In MVC we have JsonResult class by which we can return back data in JSON format. Below is a
simple sample code which returns back Customer object in JSON format using JsonResult.
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public JsonResult getCustomer()

{
Customer obj = new Customer();
obj.CustomerCode = "1001";
obj.CustomerName = "Shiv";
return Json(obj,JsonRequestBehavior.AllowGet);

Below is the JSON output of the above code if you invoke the action via the browser.

What is WebAPI?
HTTP is the most used protocol.For past many years browser was the most preferred client by
which we can consume data exposed over HTTP. But as years passed by client variety started
spreading out. We had demand to consume data on HTTP from clients like
mobile,javascripts,windows application etc.
For satisfying the broad range of client REST was the proposed approach. You can read more
about REST from WCF chapter.
WebAPI is the technology by which you can expose data over HTTP following REST principles.

But WCF SOAP also does the same thing, so how does WebAPI
differ?
SOAP
Size
Heavy weight because of complicated WSDL structure.
Protocol Independent of protocols.
To parse SOAP message, the client needs to understand
WSDL format. Writing custom code for parsing WSDL is a
Formats heavy duty task. If your client is smart enough to create
proxy objects like how we have in .NET (add reference) then
SOAP is easier to consume and call.
Principles SOAP follows WS-* specification.

WEB API
Light weight, only the necessary informat
Only for HTTP protocol

Output of WebAPI are simple string

message,JSON,Simple XML format etc. So
logic for the same in very easy.
WEB API follows REST principles. (Please
in WCF chapter).

With WCF also you can implement REST,So why "WebAPI"?

WCF was brought in to implement SOA, never the intention was to implement REST."WebAPI'" is
built from scratch and the only goal is to create HTTP services using REST. Due to the one point
focus for creating REST service WebAPI is more preferred.

How to implement WebAPI in MVC?

Below are the steps to implement "webAPI" :Step1:-Create the project using the "WebAPI" template.

Figure:- implement WebAPI in MVC

Step 2:- Once you have created the project you will notice that the controller now inherits from
"ApiController" and you can now implement "post","get","put" and "delete" methods of HTTP
protocol.
Collapse | Copy Code

public class ValuesController : ApiController

{
// GET api/values
public IEnumerable<string> Get()
{
return new string[] { "value1", "value2" };
}
// GET api/values/5
public string Get(int id)
{
return "value";
}
// POST api/values
public void Post([FromBody]string value)
{
}
// PUT api/values/5
public void Put(int id, [FromBody]string value)
{
}
// DELETE api/values/5
public void Delete(int id)
{
}
}

Step 3:-If you make a HTTP GET call you should get the below results.

DOTNET MVC 4 Basic Interview Questions and Answers for Freshers and Experienced
Developers
Below is the list of dotnet MVC 4 basic interview questions and answers. These MVC interview
questions and answers are meant for freshers as well as for experienced developers. So, If you going
for an interview on MVC, I suggest you to must give a look at following MVC interview questions.
These MVC interview questions are based on basic introduction to MVC, why we need MVC,
components of MVC, MVC namespaces, lifecycle of MVC application and a lot more. So lets have a
look on following basic dotnet MVC interview questions and answers.
1. What is MVC?
MVC is a framework methodology that divides an applications implementation into three component
roles: models, views, and controllers.
Main components of an MVC application?
1. M - Model
2. V - View
3. C - Controller
Models in a MVC based application are the components of the application that are responsible for
maintaining state. Often this state is persisted inside a database (for example: we might have a
Product class that is used to represent order data from the Products table inside SQL).
Views in a MVC based application are the components responsible for displaying the applications
user interface. Typically this UI is created off of the model data (for example: we might create an
Product Edit view that surfaces textboxes, dropdowns and checkboxes based on the current state of
a Product object).
Controllers in a MVC based application are the components responsible for handling end user
interaction, manipulating the model, and ultimately choosing a view to render to display UI. In a MVC

application the view is only about displaying information it is the controller that handles and
responds to user input and interaction.
2- What does Model, View and Controller represent in an MVC application?
Model: Model represents the application data domain. In short the applications business logic is
contained with in the model.
View: Views represent the user interface, with which the end users interact. In short the all the user
interface logic is contained with in the UI.
Controller: Controller is the component that responds to user actions. Based on the user actions, the
respective controller, work with the model, and selects a view to render that displays the user
interface. The user input logic is contained with in the controller.
3- In which assembly is the MVC framework defined?
System.Web.Mvc
4- What is the greatest advantage of using asp.net mvc over asp.net webforms?
It is difficult to unit test UI with webforms, where views in mvc can be very easily unit tested.
5- Which approach provides better support for test driven development - ASP.NET MVC or
ASP.NET Webforms?
ASP.NET MVC
6- What is Razor View Engine?
Razor view engine is a new view engine created with ASP.Net MVC model using specially designed
Razor parser to render the HTML out of dynamic server side code. It allows us to write Compact,
Expressive, Clean and Fluid code with new syntax to include server side code in to HTML.
7- What are the advantages of ASP.NET MVC?
Advantages of ASP.NET MVC:
1. Extensive support for TDD. With asp.net MVC, views can also be very easily unit tested.
2. Complex applications can be easily managed
3. Separation of concerns. Different aspects of the application can be divided into Model, View and
Controller.
4. ASP.NET MVC views are light weight, as they don't use viewstate.
8- Is it possible to unit test an MVC application without running the controllers in an ASP.NET
process?
Yes, all the features in an asp.net MVC application are interface based and hence mocking is much
easier. So, we don't have to run the controllers in an ASP.NET process for unit testing.
9- What is namespace of ASP.NET MVC?

ASP.NET MVC namespaces and classes are located in the System.Web.Mvc assembly.
System.Web.Mvc namespace
Contains classes and interfaces that support the MVC pattern for ASP.NET Web applications. This
namespace includes classes that represent controllers, controller factories, action results, views,
partial views, and model binders.
System.Web.Mvc.Ajax namespace
Contains classes that support Ajax scripts in an ASP.NET MVC application. The namespace includes
support for Ajax scripts and Ajax option settings.
System.Web.Mvc.Async namespace
Contains classes and interfaces that support asynchronous actions in an ASP.NET MVC application.
System.Web.Mvc.Html namespace
Contains classes that help render HTML controls in an MVC application. The namespace includes
classes that support forms, input controls, links, partial views, and validation.
10- Is it possible to share a view across multiple controllers?
Yes, put the view into the shared folder. This will automatically make the view available across
multiple controllers.
11- What is the role of a controller in an MVC application?
The controller responds to user interactions, with the application, by selecting the action method to
execute and selecting the view to render.
12- Where are the routing rules defined in an asp.net MVC application?
In Application_Start event in Global.asax
13- Name a few different return types of a controller action method?
The following are just a few return types of a controller action method. In general an action method
can return an instance of a any class that derives from ActionResult class.
1. ViewResult
2. JavaScriptResult
3. RedirectResult
4. ContentResult
5. JsonResult
14- What is the page lifecycle of an ASP.NET MVC?
Following process are performed by ASP.Net MVC page:

1) App initialization
2) Routing
3) Instantiate and execute controller
4) Locate and invoke controller action
5) Instantiate and render view
15- What is the significance of NonActionAttribute?
In general, all public methods of a controller class are treated as action methods. If you want prevent
this default behavior, just decorate the public method with NonActionAttribute.
16- What is the significance of ASP.NET routing?
ASP.NET MVC uses ASP.NET routing, to map incoming browser requests to controller action
methods. ASP.NET Routing makes use of route table. Route table is created when your web
application first starts. The route table is present in the Global.asax file.
17- How route table is created in ASP.NET MVC?
When an MVC application first starts, the Application_Start() method is called. This method, in turn,
calls the RegisterRoutes() method. The RegisterRoutes() method creates the route table.
18- What are the 3 segments of the default route, that is present in an ASP.NET MVC
application?
1st Segment - Controller Name
2nd Segment - Action Method Name
3rd Segment - Parameter that is passed to the action method
Example: http://google.com/search/label/MVC
Controller Name = search
Action Method Name = label
Parameter Id = MVC
19- ASP.NET MVC application, makes use of settings at 2 places for routing to work correctly.
What are these 2 places?
1. Web.Config File : ASP.NET routing has to be enabled here.
2. Global.asax File : The Route table is created in the application Start event handler, of the
Global.asax file.
20- What is the adavantage of using ASP.NET routing?
In an ASP.NET web application that does not make use of routing, an incoming browser request
should map to a physical file. If the file does not exist, we get page not found error.
An ASP.NET web application that does make use of routing, makes use of URLs that do not have to
map to specific files in a Web site. Because the URL does not have to map to a file, you can use
URLs that are descriptive of the user's action and therefore are more easily understood by users.

21- What are the 3 things that are needed to specify a route?
1. URL Pattern - You can include placeholders in a URL pattern so that variable data can be passed
to the request handler without requiring a query string.
2. Handler - The handler can be a physical file such as an .aspx file or a controller class.
3. Name for the Route - Name is optional.
22- Is the following route definition a valid route definition?
{controller}{action}/{id}
No, the above definition is not a valid route definition, because there is no literal value or delimiter
between the placeholders. Therefore, routing cannot determine where to separate the value for the
controller placeholder from the value for the action placeholder.
23- What is the use of the following default route?
{resource}.axd/{*pathInfo}
This route definition, prevent requests for the Web resource files such as WebResource.axd or
ScriptResource.axd from being passed to a controller.
24- What is the difference between adding routes, to a webforms application and to an mvc
application?
To add routes to a webforms application, we use MapPageRoute() method of the RouteCollection
class, where as to add routes to an MVC application we use MapRoute() method.
25- How do you handle variable number of segments in a route definition?
Use a route with a catch-all parameter. An example is shown below. * is referred to as catch-all
parameter.
controller/{action}/{*parametervalues}
26- What are the 2 ways of adding constraints to a route?
1. Use regular expressions
2. Use an object that implements IRouteConstraint interface
27- Give 2 examples for scenarios when routing is not applied?
1. A Physical File is Found that Matches the URL Pattern - This default behaviour can be overriden by
setting the RouteExistingFiles property of the RouteCollection object to true.
2. Routing Is Explicitly Disabled for a URL Pattern - Use the RouteCollection.Ignore() method to
prevent routing from handling certain requests.
28- What is the use of action filters in an MVC application?
Action Filters allow us to add pre-action and post-action behavior to controller action methods.
29- If I have multiple filters implemented, what is the order in which these filters get executed?

1. Authorization filters
2. Action filters
3. Response filters
4. Exception filters
30- What are the different types of filters, in an asp.net mvc application?
1. Authorization filters
2. Action filters
3. Result filters
4. Exception filters
31- Give an example for Authorization filters in an asp.net mvc application?
1. RequireHttpsAttribute
2. AuthorizeAttribute
32- Which filter executes first in an asp.net mvc application?
Authorization filter
33- What are the levels at which filters can be applied in an asp.net mvc application?
1. Action Method
2. Controller
3. Application
34- Is it possible to create a custom filter?
Yes
35- What filters are executed in the end?
Exception Filters
36- Is it possible to cancel filter execution?
Yes
37- What type of filter does OutputCacheAttribute class represents?
Result Filter
38- What are the 2 popular asp.net mvc view engines?
1. Razor
2. .aspx
39- What is difference between Viewbag and Viewdata in ASP.NET MVC?

The basic difference between ViewData and ViewBag is that in ViewData instead creating dynamic
properties we use properties of Model to transport the Model data in View and in ViewBag we can
create dynamic properties without using Model data.
40- What symbol would you use to denote, the start of a code block in razor views?
@
41- What symbol would you use to denote, the start of a code block in aspx views?
<%= %>
In razor syntax, what is the escape sequence character for @ symbol?
The escape sequence character for @ symbol, is another @ symbol
42- When using razor views, do you have to take any special steps to protect your asp.net mvc
application from cross site scripting (XSS) attacks?
No, by default content emitted using a @ block is automatically HTML encoded to protect from cross
site scripting (XSS) attacks.
43- When using aspx view engine, to have a consistent look and feel, across all pages of the
application, we can make use of asp.net master pages. What is asp.net master pages
equivalent, when using razor views?
To have a consistent look and feel when using razor views, we can make use of layout pages. Layout
pages, reside in the shared folder, and are named as _Layout.cshtml
44- What are sections?
Layout pages, can define sections, which can then be overriden by specific views making use of the
layout. Defining and overriding sections is optional.
45- What are the file extensions for razor views?
1. .cshtml - If the programming lanugaue is C#
2. .vbhtml - If the programming lanugaue is VB
46- How do you specify comments using razor syntax?
Razor syntax makes use of @* to indicate the begining of a comment and *@ to indicate the end.
47- What is Routing?
A route is a URL pattern that is mapped to a handler. The handler can be a physical file, such as an
.aspx file in a Web Forms application. Routing module is responsible for mapping incoming browser
requests to particular MVC controller actions.
48- Is it possible to combine ASP.NET webforms and ASP.MVC and develop a single web
application?

Yes, it is possible to combine ASP.NET webforms and ASP.MVC and develop a single web
application.
49. How do you avoid XSS Vulnerabilities in ASP.NET MVC?
Use the syntax in ASP.NET MVC instead of using .net framework 4.0.