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I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve seen developers struggle with this question: “Should this logic go in the Domain layer or the Application layer?” Clean Architecture diagrams make it look simple, but when you’re staring at your actual codebase, the lines blur fast. You know the situation. You’ve got a business rule to implement. You open your project, see both folders, and pause. Put it in the wrong place, and six months later you’re wrestling with a mess of tangled dependencies and logic that’s impossible to test. ...

The ‘Tell, Don’t Ask’ principle helps reduce behavioral dependencies in C# applications by keeping decision-making logic inside the objects that own the data. This leads to cleaner, more maintainable code with better encapsulation and reduced coupling.

A comprehensive guide to integration testing ASP.NET Core APIs with WebApplicationFactory. Learn to replace real databases, mock services, test authenticated endpoints, and build production-ready test suites.

Most EF Core projects start with a generic repository that soon turns into a mess of type parameters and leaky abstractions. In this post, learn how to design maintainable, aggregate-specific repositories that are clean, testable, and production-ready.

If you’ve worked with modern ASP.NET Core, you’ve almost certainly encountered MediatR. It’s a fantastic library, and for good reason; it has become the de-facto standard for implementing the CQRS pattern in .NET, helping you build clean, decoupled, and maintainable applications. But have you ever paused to look behind the curtain? In my experience building several lean microservices, I’ve found that while MediatR is a go-to, there are times when a simpler, handcrafted approach is more effective. This post is born from that experience. ...

A practical guide to structuring ASP.NET Core APIs for reliable integration and unit testing using clean architecture principles and minimal, production-ready C# code.

EF Core’s default optimistic concurrency model is a great starting point, but it’s not a silver bullet. When write contention heats up, its limitations can lead to performance bottlenecks and data integrity challenges. Understanding the trade-offs between optimistic and pessimistic concurrency is crucial for building robust, scalable applications. This article explores the conceptual costs and benefits of each strategy, helping you decide when to stick with the default and when to reach for explicit locking. ...

This guide covers 22 clean code principles in C# that go beyond SOLID, naming, error handling, layering, and API design for real-world maintainable systems.

Cut payload size by 60–80% in ASP.NET Core with built-in Brotli and Gzip compression. Step-by-step code, production tweaks, and real benchmarks.

Your app performs well with MemoryCache for 1K users. But when traffic scales to 10K users across three load-balanced servers, cache misses explode and response times spike to 800ms. I’ve seen production APIs crash under load because the team relied solely on MemoryCache. Here’s how we fixed it with hybrid caching strategies that combine the speed of local memory with the consistency of distributed cache. TL;DR MemoryCache works for single servers but fails in distributed environments Hybrid caching uses MemoryCache (L1) + Redis (L2) for best performance Multi-tenant apps need tenant-scoped cache keys to prevent data leakage System.Text.Json provides the best balance of performance and debuggability Monitor cache hit ratios per tenant and cache level for optimal tuning MemoryCache works great for single-server applications, but it hits hard limits in distributed environments. This guide covers hybrid caching strategies that keep your multi-tenant ASP.NET Core apps fast and scalable, with real benchmarks and production-ready code. ...