🚀 Steps to Build

1. Setup Project

dotnet new webapi -n MovieRentalAPI
cd MovieRentalAPI

Install dependencies:

dotnet add package Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore
dotnet add package Npgsql.EntityFrameworkCore.PostgreSQL
dotnet add package Swashbuckle.AspNetCore
dotnet add package Microsoft.AspNetCore.Authentication.JwtBearer

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2. Models & DTOs

• Models/ → define Movie, Customer, Rental with relationships.

• DTOs/ → define MovieDto, CustomerDto, RentalDto (for data transfer, avoiding exposing DB entities directly).

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3. Database & EF Core

• Define ApplicationDbContext.cs in Data/

• Configure DbSets for Movies, Customers, Rentals

• Register DbContext in Program.cs with PostgreSQL connection string.

Run migrations:

dotnet ef migrations add InitialCreate
dotnet ef database update

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4. Repositories & Interfaces

• Create repository interfaces:

  • IMovieRepository

  • ICustomerRepository

  • IRentalRepository

• Implement them in Repositories/ folder.

• Handle CRUD operations.

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5. Services Layer

• Create services:

  • MovieService

  • CustomerService

  • RentalService

• Services call repositories and contain business logic.

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6. Controllers

• Create controllers:

  • MoviesController

  • CustomersController

  • RentalsController

• Map endpoints: CRUD operations + rental actions.

• Use DTOs for input/output.

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7. Authentication (JWT)

• Add user registration/login (basic Identity or custom).

• Configure JWT in Program.cs.

• Add [Authorize] attribute to controllers.

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8. Swagger Setup

• Configure Swagger to require JWT tokens.

• Test API endpoints directly in Swagger.

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9. Testing the Flow

1. Create a movie

2. Create a customer

3. Rent a movie

4. Return a movie

5. See rental history

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10. Future Enhancements

• Pagination and filtering

• Role-based authorization (Admin/User)

• Dockerize API and DB

• Frontend integration (React/Angular)

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