Razor is an ASP.NET programming syntax used to create dynamic web pages with the C# or VB.NET programming languages. Razor was introduced in June 2010 and was released for Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 in January 2011. Razor is a simple-syntax view engine and was released as part of MVC 3 and the WebMatrix tool set.
Razor became a component of AspNetWebStack and then became a part of ASP.NET Core.
Design
The Razor syntax is a template markup syntax, based on the C# programming language, that enables the programmer to use an HTML construction workflow. Instead of using the ASP.NET Web Forms (.aspx) markup syntax with <%= %> symbols to indicate code blocks, Razor syntax starts code blocks with an @ character and does not require explicit closing of the code-block.
The idea behind Razor is to provide an optimized syntax for HTML generation using a code-focused templating approach, with minimal transition between HTML and code. The design reduces the number of characters and keystrokes, and enables a more fluid coding workflow by not requiring explicitly denoted server blocks within the HTML code. Other advantages that have been noted:
- Supports IntelliSense – statement completion support
- Supports "layouts" – an alternative to the "master page" concept in classic Web Forms (.aspx)
- Unit testable
