Great books on how to learn or get into ASP .NET core (updated 2020)

Back in 2017 I started looking into .Net core Because of this I started scouting the web for good resources on .NET core. I am mostly into books as these are more comprehensive. My list will most likely show that I have a focus on web development.

Disclosure: Bear in mind that some of the links in this post are affiliate links and if you go through them to make a purchase I will earn a commission. Keep in mind that I link these companies and their products because of their quality. The decision is yours, and whether or not you decide to buy something is completely up to you.

Pro ASP.NET Core MVC 2

Author: Adam Freeman

It seems that this is, the must have book on ASP.NET core. It goes through all you need to know in order to create lean applications for cloud and mobile. It starts simple and gets you coding straight away. It also gets into the advanced features - which you may skip to if you already know the basics. This is the 7th edition of the book.


ASP.NET Core Application Development

Authors: James Chambers, David Paquette and Simon Timms

This book goes through the whole development process for ASP.NET core. When you finish the book you can have something deployed on the web! In 4 sprints it takes you through MVC, Docker, Azure, Visual Studio, C#, Javascript and Entity Framework. This is a great beginners book if you do not know where to start. But note that this book is using very specific technologies. It may not be too easy to follow if you wish to stray from the examples.


Learning ASP.NET Core 2.0

Authors: Jason De Oliveira and Michel Bruchet

Compared to the other two books this is the newest on the block. Like the previously mentioned books this also takes you through MVC, hosting, monitoring, Entity Framework and so on. This book has some great discussions on ASP.NET core and makes the reader feel as if he or she is part of this.

I know we are at .Net core 3.1 today, but not too much have happened since 2.0.


Hands-On RESTful Web Services with ASP.NET Core 3

Author: Samuele Resca

This book focuses on creating RESTful APIs using asp.net core 3. If you are not going to use ASP.NET core for web development but creating APIs this is the book for you. It has examples on how to use Filters, middleware, Swagger, RabbitMQ and much more in your APIs.

I can note from the comments on Amazon that it is not that well written and lacks technical editing, this is giving it mixed reviews.


C# 8.0 and .NET Core 3.0

Author: Mark Price

This book is not a book specifically on ASP.Net core, but more of a general .Net Core book. This is a great book if you wish to explore more than just ASP.Net, It will take you through the following and more:

  • C# programming language
  • .Net class libraries
  • Entity Framework Core
  • ASP.NET Core
  • ML.NET (machine learning)

The examples are in C# and Visual Studio code is used as an IDE, so you will not have to buy the professional Visual Studio to follow the examples. The book can be found here:


The Little ASP.NET Core Book

Author: Nate Barbettini

Compared to the other books, this one is FREE. It can be found on github or with a direct download here. This book is praised for being short, easy to read and covers the basics. It is a great book if you just want an understanding of what ASP.NET core is, but you do not wish to make a smaller investment to get this.

That was my list!

That was my list, do you think anything should be added?