.NET 8 Microservices: DDD, CQRS, Vertical/Clean Architecture Course Syllabus

Overview: This comprehensive course guides experienced .NET developers through the design, implementation, and deployment of cloud-native microservices using .NET 8, Domain-Driven Design, CQRS, and modern DevOps practices. You'll gain hands-on experience building loosely coupled services, securing communication, and orchestrating containers with Docker and Kubernetes. With approximately 10 hours of content across 8 modules, this course blends architectural theory with real-world coding, preparing you to build scalable, observable, and maintainable systems.

Module 1: Microservices Fundamentals & .NET Setup

Estimated time: 1 hour

• Understanding microservices vs. monolithic architecture
• Key trade-offs in microservices design
• Installing .NET SDK and development tools
• Setting up solution structure in Visual Studio/VS Code

Module 2: Building Your First .NET Core Microservice

Estimated time: 1.5 hours

• Creating an ASP.NET Core Web API project
• Implementing CRUD endpoints with controllers
• Using dependency injection in .NET Core
• Documenting APIs with Swagger/OpenAPI

Module 3: Inter-Service Communication Patterns

Estimated time: 1.5 hours

• Synchronous communication using HttpClientFactory
• Adding resiliency with Polly for transient fault handling
• Asynchronous messaging with RabbitMQ
• Implementing publishers, consumers, and message contracts

Module 4: Data Management Strategies

Estimated time: 1.5 hours

• Applying the database-per-service pattern
• Using Entity Framework Core with isolated contexts
• Introduction to Command Query Responsibility Segregation (CQRS)
• Event sourcing basics with MediatR

Module 5: Security & API Gateway

Estimated time: 1 hour

• Securing microservices with JWT bearer tokens
• Integrating identity providers using IdentityServer4
• Routing and load balancing with Ocelot API Gateway
• Implementing authorization in API gateways

Module 6: Containerization with Docker

Estimated time: 1 hour

• Writing Dockerfiles for .NET Core services
• Using multi-stage builds for optimization
• Managing multi-container environments with Docker Compose

Module 7: Orchestration with Kubernetes

Estimated time: 1.5 hours

• Creating Kubernetes manifests for Deployments and Services
• Managing configuration with ConfigMaps and Secrets
• Using Helm charts to package and scale microservices

Module 8: Observability & DevOps Practices

Estimated time: 1 hour

• Implementing centralized logging with Serilog and Seq
• Distributed tracing using OpenTelemetry
• Monitoring with Prometheus and Grafana dashboards

Prerequisites

• Familiarity with C# and .NET Core fundamentals
• Basic understanding of RESTful APIs
• Experience with Visual Studio or VS Code

What You'll Be Able to Do After

• Design and implement microservices using DDD and clean architecture principles
• Build and document RESTful APIs in ASP.NET Core
• Enable resilient inter-service communication using HTTP and RabbitMQ
• Secure microservices with JWT, OAuth2, and API gateways
• Containerize and orchestrate services using Docker and Kubernetes