Exercise Minimal APIs Video Game Characters

Exercise Minimal APIs – Video Game Characters

Assignment

Build a REST API using .NET Minimal APIs.
Your API should manage data about video game characters.

A character is described by these properties:

• Name
• Game (the title they come from)
• Role (hero, villain, sidekick, etc.)
• Ability (their special power/skill)

For example:

{
  "id": 1,
  "name": "Mario",
  "game": "Super Mario Bros.",
  "role": "Hero",
  "ability": "Jump Power"
}

{
  "id": 2,
  "name": "Sephiroth",
  "game": "Final Fantasy VII",
  "role": "Villain",
  "ability": "Supernova"
}

{
  "id": 3,
  "name": "Pikachu",
  "game": "Pokémon",
  "role": "Sidekick",
  "ability": "Thunderbolt"
}

:::note
In C#, class properties should be written in PascalCase (Id, Name, Game, Role, Ability).
When serialized to JSON, they will automatically be converted to camelCase. :::

The single resource of your API is /vg-characters.
You should support these endpoints:

---

GET /vg-characters

Returns all available characters.

Filters

It should be possible to filter using query parameters:

• GET /vg-characters?game=Pokémon → all characters from Pokémon
• GET /vg-characters?role=Hero → all heroes
• GET /vg-characters?ability=Jump%20Power → characters with the “Jump Power” ability

---

GET /vg-characters/{id}

Returns a specific character by ID.

---

POST /vg-characters

Insert a new entry into the list of characters.
The API will automatically assign a new ID.

---

PUT /vg-characters/{id}

Update a specific character by ID.

---

DELETE /vg-characters/{id}

Delete a character by ID.

---

Storing data

Normally, data is stored in a database.
For this exercise, you can keep it simple: store your characters in memory using a static List.

---

Request and response data

All requests and responses should be JSON.
Think carefully about which fields are required in requests, and which ones should only be returned in responses.

---

Tests

• Test manually with Postman.
• Write automated unit tests for your handlers.
  • Example: Insert a character, fetch it again, then delete it and check that it’s gone.
  • Each endpoint should have at least one test.

For testing, ensure your handlers are accessible to your unit test project. You can follow the structure outlined in Dotnet Minimal APIs#Structuring Example.