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How does routing work in ASP.NET MVC? Explain attribute routing.

Anubhav Sharma 419 11 Jun 2025

How does routing work in ASP.NET MVC? Explain attribute routing.

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Updated 19 Jun 2025
Anubhav Sharma
Anubhav Sharma

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The Anubhav portal was launched in March 2015 at the behest of the Hon'ble Prime Minister for retiring government officials to leave a record of their experiences while in Govt service .

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1 Answers

Ravi Vishwakarma
Ravi Vishwakarma 18 Jun 2025
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In ASP.NET MVC, routing is the mechanism that maps incoming URLs to controller actions. It’s essential to delivering requests to the right code based on URL patterns.

1. Routing Table (Convention-Based Routing)

Defined in RouteConfig.cs (inside App_Start).

The application uses URL patterns to route requests.

Example:

routes.MapRoute(
    name: "Default",
    url: "{controller}/{action}/{id}",
    defaults: new { controller = "Home", action = "Index", id = UrlParameter.Optional }
);

URL: /Products/Details/5 →
Maps to: ProductsController.Details(int id = 5)

This is convention-based routing — the route depends on the folder/controller/action structure.

2. Route Matching Process

When a request comes in:

  1. MVC reads the routing table in order.
  2. It matches the request URL to the defined route pattern.
  3. It determines:
    1. Which controller to instantiate.
    2. Which action method to invoke.
    3. What parameters to pass.

What is Attribute Routing?

Attribute Routing lets you define routes directly on controller actions using [Route] attributes instead of relying on the centralized route table.

Introduced in ASP.NET MVC 5.

Enabling Attribute Routing

In RouteConfig.cs:

public static void RegisterRoutes(RouteCollection routes)
{
    routes.IgnoreRoute("{resource}.axd/{*pathInfo}");

    // Enable attribute routing
    routes.MapMvcAttributeRoutes();

    // (Optional) fallback conventional route
    routes.MapRoute(
        name: "Default",
        url: "{controller}/{action}/{id}",
        defaults: new { controller = "Home", action = "Index", id = UrlParameter.Optional }
    );
}

Example: Attribute Routing

public class ArticlesController : Controller
{
    [Route("articles/view/{id}")]
    public ActionResult ViewArticle(int id)
    {
        // Logic
        return View();
    }

    [Route("articles/delete/{id}")]
    public ActionResult DeleteArticle(int id)
    {
        // Logic
        return View();
    }
}

URL: /articles/view/10 → hits ViewArticle(10)
URL: /articles/delete/10 → hits DeleteArticle(10)

Attribute Routing with Constraints

[Route("blog/{year:int}/{month:int}/{title}")]
public ActionResult BlogPost(int year, int month, string title) { ... }

Adds validation to ensure only integers for year and month.

Benefits of Attribute Routing

Feature Benefit
Clarity Routes are defined next to the action methods
Flexibility Easily create custom and SEO-friendly URLs
Control No need to rely on one global route template
Support Route constraints, optional params, defaults

Summary

Routing Type Description
Convention-based Central route pattern (e.g., {controller}/{action}/{id})
Attribute routing Routes defined directly on actions using [Route]

Routing = URL → Controller + Action + Parameters

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