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Introduction to the React + .NET Core stack: Advantages and use cases

Introduction to the React + .NET Core stack: Advantages and use cases
Doru Bulubasa
21 May 2025

In recent years, combining modern frontend based on React with the robust backend offered by .NET Core (C#) has become an increasingly popular choice for developing scalable web applications. This article gives you an overview of this technological combination and prepares you for developing a real project: a blog-type website built on solid principles.


πŸ› οΈ Why React + .NET Core?

Advantages of React:

  • ⚑ High performance: virtual DOM and efficient updates.

  • ♻️ Reusable components: UI is composed of declarative components.

  • 🌍 Vast ecosystem: millions of packages available (npm/yarn).

  • πŸ‘₯ Community and support: used by large companies (Meta, Instagram, Airbnb, etc.).

Advantages of .NET Core:

  • πŸ’ͺ Performance and scalability: .NET Core is cross-platform, fast, and efficient.

  • 🧱 Clean and testable architecture: supports DDD, CQRS, MediatR, etc.

  • πŸ” Built-in security: Identity, JWT authentication, authorization.

  • 🌐 Easy database integration: via Entity Framework Core.

  • ☁️ Cloud-ready (Azure friendly)


🧩 Communication between React and .NET Core

The React application handles:

  • Client-side routing (SPA)

  • UI, validation, interaction

  • HTTP calls to API

The .NET Core application (Web API) handles:

  • Business logic (DDD)

  • Data access (EF Core, SQL)

  • Authentication/authorization

  • Server-side validations and error returning

πŸ”„ The two parts communicate via HTTP (REST APIs), using libraries like axios on the frontend.


🧱 When is this stack useful?

  • πŸ”– Content websites: blogs, magazines, landing pages

  • πŸ›’ eCommerce applications: fast frontend + robust backend

  • 🧾 Administrative applications: dashboards, custom CMSs

  • πŸŽ“ Educational or internal applications: learning/testing spaces

  • 🧠 Projects that require clear separation between UI and logic


πŸ—‚οΈ Recommended project structure

The project will be divided as follows:

  • Frontend (React + TypeScript) – independent, separate folder

  • Backend (.NET Core Web API) – organized by DDD: Domain, Application, Infrastructure

  • Database – SQL Server (or PostgreSQL)

  • Communication – REST API with JWT Authentication


πŸ“Œ What you will learn in this series

  • How to apply DDD in a real application

  • How to structure a backend application in clear layers

  • How to build a modern frontend with React + TypeScript

  • How to test both frontend and backend

  • How to implement authentication with JWT and protect routes


🧭 What’s next

In the next article, we will create the basic structure of the application: a backend in .NET Core and a React frontend, organized in two separate projects, ready for development.