Microservices in .NET

Introduction

The book "Microservices in .NET" by Christian Horsdal was published in 2017 and immediately became one of the most practical guides for building a microservice architecture on the .NET platform. Unlike many theoretical works, this book offers the reader a sequential path from the first line of code to deploying a finished system in Docker containers. Despite the fact that several years have passed since its publication, the core principles and approaches described by the author remain relevant today, especially for developers transitioning from monolithic applications to microservices.

What the book is about

The book is structured as an end-to-end example: the author step by step creates a real application — an online store broken down into several independent microservices. Each chapter is dedicated to one of the key aspects of microservice architecture:

• Microservice Design — how to properly define service boundaries so they are loosely coupled and easily maintainable.
• Inter-service Communication — synchronous calls via HTTP/REST and asynchronous interaction through message queues (RabbitMQ).
• Data Management — working with databases in a distributed system, the Saga pattern for managing transactions.
• Testing — microservice testing strategies: unit, integration, and end-to-end tests.
• Deployment and DevOps — packaging services into Docker containers, orchestration with Docker Compose, setting up CI/CD.
• Monitoring and Logging — centralized log collection, metrics, health checks.

Who this book is for

The book is aimed at C# developers who already have experience building web applications in ASP.NET. If you are familiar with the basics of .NET Framework or .NET Core, know how to work with Visual Studio, and understand what a REST API is, you will easily grasp the material. Beginners in .NET may find it challenging: the author does not explain the basic concepts of the language and platform, moving directly to architectural decisions.

The book will also be useful for software architects who want to see a practical implementation of microservices in .NET, and for team leads planning a transition from a monolith to microservices.

What the reader will learn

• How to break a monolithic application into microservices without creating a "distributed monolith".
• How to organize reliable communication between services using HTTP and message queues.
• How to manage data in a distributed system: the Saga pattern, CQRS, Event Sourcing (brief introduction).
• How to containerize .NET applications with Docker and orchestrate them using Docker Compose.
• How to set up continuous integration and deployment (CI/CD) for microservices.
• How to add monitoring, logging, and health checks to a finished system.

Strengths of the book

Practical focus. Unlike many books that limit themselves to theory, Horsdal provides ready-to-run code that can be immediately executed and modified. All examples are available on GitHub.

Step-by-step presentation. Each chapter logically continues the previous one. You don't jump between topics but build the system sequentially.

Emphasis on Docker. At the time of the book's release, Docker was still new for .NET developers. The author explains in detail how to package services into containers, making the book an excellent introduction to containerization.

Clear focus on .NET. The book does not try to cover all languages and platforms — it is entirely dedicated to the .NET ecosystem, making it especially valuable for C# developers.

Who it is recommended for

The book will be useful for:

• C# developers who want to master microservice architecture.
• Teams planning