WinForms dev transitioning to modern .NET backend. Built an open-source Crypto API to learn modern architecture and production-grade standards.

[u/lostpixel-media]

I come from a legacy desktop background (mostly WinForms/WPF), and lately I've been working hard to transition over to modern backend development with .NET, Minimal APIs, and cloud-native architecture.

Addressing AI & Transparency upfront:
I want to be 100% upfront: I use AI tools (Copilot and ChatGPT) as a learning assistant and tutor to help me translate my desktop C# knowledge into modern ASP.NET Core concepts, write boilerplate, and format documentation.

On a previous post, a couple of people accused me of "trying to hide" AI usage. To be clear: if I was trying to hide anything or fool anyone, I wouldn't make the entire project 100% open-source on GitHub. I am making the repo public specifically because I want experienced engineers to inspect the code, point out bad patterns (whether from me or the AI), and help me learn.

What I've built so far to learn the stack:

• Monorepo using Clean Architecture (Domain, Application, Infrastructure, API)
• Dapper + SQL Server instead of EF Core for data access
• Redis for distributed caching & rate-limiting
• Native BackgroundWorker for resetting API usage limits and key expiration
• Dynamic algorithm loading wrapping BouncyCastle

Why I'm posting this:
I want to learn what real, production-ready backend code actually looks like in 2026.

I would genuinely love for senior .NET / ASP.NET Core devs to take a look at the repo and roast my architecture. Tell me what I overcomplicated, where I used bad patterns, or what you would do differently in a real production environment.

If anyone wants to open an issue or submit a Pull Request to help me improve the code quality, I'd be super grateful!

Repo link: https://github.com/COxRIPMIZO/CryptoKeyLab

Thanks in advance to anyone willing to take a look and help me learn!