ASP.NET Core Middleware Patterns

Rationale

Middleware is the backbone of ASP.NET Core request processing. Properly designed middleware enables cross-cutting concerns like logging, authentication, and caching. Understanding the pipeline order and middleware patterns is critical for building robust applications.

Pipeline Ordering

Middleware executes in the order it is registered. The order is critical -- placing middleware in the wrong position causes subtle bugs.

Recommended Order

var app = builder.Build();

// 1. Exception handling (outermost -- catches everything below)
app.UseExceptionHandler("/error");