Best Practice to Make Your Project Cleaner in .NET

MyApp.sln
 ├─ MyApp.Web         // MVC or Web API project (Controllers, Views)
 ├─ MyApp.Application // Service layer (business logic, DTOs)
 ├─ MyApp.Domain      // Entities, enums, interfaces
 ├─ MyApp.Infrastructure // EF6, repositories, external integrations
 └─ MyApp.Tests       // Unit & integration tests

var builder = new ContainerBuilder();
builder.RegisterControllers(typeof(MvcApplication).Assembly);
builder.RegisterType<OrderService>().As<IOrderService>();
builder.RegisterType<OrderRepository>().As<IOrderRepository>();

var container = builder.Build();
DependencyResolver.SetResolver(new AutofacDependencyResolver(container));

Mapper.Initialize(cfg => cfg.CreateMap<Order, OrderDto>());

5. Centralize Exception Handling

In MVC/Web API, use:

• Global Filters:

public class GlobalExceptionFilter : IExceptionFilter {
    public void OnException(ExceptionContext filterContext) {
        // log error
        filterContext.Result = new ViewResult { ViewName = "Error" };
        filterContext.ExceptionHandled = true;
    }
}

Register in FilterConfig.cs

6. Keep Configuration Out of Code

• Use Web.config for settings.

• For strongly typed configs:

var settingValue = ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["MySetting"];

Or use Settings.settings file for auto-generated config classes.

7. Avoid Magic Strings / Numbers

Same principle:

public static class Roles {
    public const string Admin = "Admin";
}

8. Apply SOLID

Even in .NET Framework — especially important because older projects tend to get “God classes”.

9. Use Filters & Action Attributes

Instead of putting auth/logging/validation code in controllers:

• AuthorizationFilterAttribute for role-based checks.

• ActionFilterAttribute for logging and pre/post action hooks.

10. Use EF6 Best Practices

• Avoid lazy loading unless needed.

• Use AsNoTracking() for queries that don’t need entity tracking.

• Keep DB logic in repositories or a dedicated DAL.

11. Unit Testing Without Core’s Built-in DI

• Mock services using Moq/FakeItEasy.

• Avoid static dependencies — make them injectable.

12. Keep Global.asax Clean

• Move route configs to RouteConfig.cs.

• Bundle/minify in BundleConfig.cs.

• Register filters in FilterConfig.cs.

• Only call setup methods in Application_Start().

13. Static Analysis & Style Rules

• Use FxCop, StyleCop, or ReSharper for code quality.

14. Async in ASP.NET

• Use async/await in MVC/Web API to free threads for scalability.

public async Task<ActionResult> GetOrders() {
    var orders = await _orderService.GetOrdersAsync();
    return Json(orders, JsonRequestBehavior.AllowGet);
}

15. Document Your APIs

• For Web API 2, use Swashbuckle for .NET Framework to generate Swagger docs.

Conclusion

Here we tried to cover Best practice to make your project cleaner in .NET