Why should you care?

Knowing the timeline explains why some tutorials mention Global.asax or Web Forms while your project uses Program.cs — you are on the newest stack.

See it live — copy this example

Create an MVC project (dotnet new mvc), add the code, and run dotnet run.

// ASP.NET Framework (legacy) — System.Web, IIS-only
// ASP.NET Core (current) — Kestrel, cross-platform, Program.cs

var builder = WebApplication.CreateBuilder(args);
var app = builder.Build();
app.MapControllerRoute(name: "default", pattern: "{controller=Home}/{action=Index}/{id?}");
app.Run();

Run Example »

Edit the code and click Run — like W3Schools Try it Yourself.

What happened?

• ASP.NET Core is not just an upgrade — it is a new framework.
• It is faster, modular, and designed for cloud and containers.
• New projects should use Core.

Try it yourself

1. Run dotnet --version on your machine.
2. Create dotnet new mvc and open Program.cs — that is Core style.
3. Search your project for Global.asax — you should not find it in Core.
4. Change text or labels in the example and run again — watch the browser update.
5. Break the code on purpose (remove a semicolon), read the error message, then fix it.

Remember

Web Forms → MVC on Framework → ASP.NET Core. Core uses Program.cs and runs everywhere. Toolliyo lessons target ASP.NET Core only.