I’m working on an ASP.NET web application that needs to retrieve project data from Basecamp’s API. I understand JSON and XML formats, but I’m confused about the actual implementation process for making API calls.
I want to create a class called BasecampHandler that takes an API token as a parameter. This class would encapsulate all the API functionality I need.
My main questions are:
How do I actually send requests to the API endpoints?
How do I handle the returned data (JSON/XML)?
What’s the proper way to structure this in a C# class?
I need a server-side solution that works within a CS file. Can someone show me a basic example of calling something like example-api.com/get-data and processing the response? I want to understand the complete flow from making the request to handling the response data in a class structure.
I’ve built this same thing in several production apps. Here’s what works: Inject HttpClient through DI instead of creating static instances. In your BasecampHandler constructor, take an HttpClient parameter and store it as a private field. Wrap your HttpClient calls in try-catch blocks for network failures. Use System.Text.Json instead of Newtonsoft - it’s faster in modern .NET. Return strongly-typed objects, not raw JSON strings. Your code will be way easier to maintain. Add retry logic for failed requests and proper logging for debugging. Set the auth header once in the constructor with client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Authorization. This setup has worked great across multiple enterprise apps.
I’ve been through this exact situation integrating multiple external APIs into an ASP.NET app. Here’s what actually worked for me: Set up your BasecampHandler class with HttpClient as a dependency, but configure request timeouts and handle rate limiting properly. Most APIs will rate limit you, so implement exponential backoff when you hit those limits. For JSON handling, create DTOs that match the API response structure - saves you from parsing headaches later. If you’re not using DI, make sure you dispose of HttpClient properly. Biggest mistake I made early on? Not validating API responses before deserializing. This caused runtime exceptions constantly. Always check the status code and response content type before processing anything.
for sure! using httpclient is great idea. u can create it static in your basecamphandler class. then call getasync for ur requests. once u get the response, us response.content.readasstringasync() to fetch json and deserialize it with newtonsoft. also, async/await is key for smoothness!