ASP.NET MVC is a framework that is used to create web applications in MVC pattern. ASP.NET Web API is relatively new framework that makes it easy to build HTTP services that can reach a broad range of clients, including browsers and mobile devices. ASP.NET Web API is an ideal platform for building RESTful applications on the .NET Framework.

In this cartoon Mark and Ted discusses about the differences between ASP.NET MVC and ASP.NET Web API. Mark clears Ted when to use the Web API over MVC.

Routes are part of an application and they are defined through code in the Application_Start event. Routes not changes frequently but whenever they requires a change we need to modify the code. In applications where we need frequent changes in routing configuration, defining routes in code is not a flexible option and a better idea would be to place them in xml files or database.

I've created a simple API named XRouter that helps you to define routes in xml files. XRouter helps you to map, ignore and redirect requests quite easily. It also helps you to manage areas in a flexible way. The main advantage is whenever you change the routes, the routing table is automatically updated and you don't need to restart the application.

In ASP.NET MVC, we can display data in partial views either by using Html.Partial/Html.RenderPartial or Html.Action/Html.RenderAction. In this cartoon, Mark clarifies Nancy about the differences between the two and when to use what.