Successful_Cycle_465 asks about integrating ASP.NET Core Identity into a Clean Architecture (DDD) app while keeping the domain layer independent, and requests best practices and examples.

Article Summary

The author presents a common architectural dilemma when implementing user management in ASP.NET Core applications using Clean Architecture and Domain-Driven Design (DDD) principles.

The Core Challenge

  • Domain Independence: The goal is to prevent domain entities from being directly dependent on infrastructure-specific classes such as IdentityUser from ASP.NET Core Identity.
  • Feature Utilization: Inheriting from IdentityUser provides access to out-of-the-box features like authentication and roles, but ties the domain to infrastructure concerns.

The Question

How can one integrate ASP.NET Core Identity into a Clean Architecture project using DDD, enabling user management features, without breaching the domain independence principle?

Key Discussion Points

  • Inheritance Dilemma: Inheriting from IdentityUser in the domain entity (User) introduces unwanted coupling to infrastructure, violating clean separation.
  • Not Inheriting: Forfeits many of the convenient features that Identity provides (authentication, authorization, role management).

Desired Solution

  • Maintain domain-purity (domain entities should be free of framework and infrastructure dependencies).
  • Leverage Identity’s powerful capabilities without polluting the domain model.

Request for Guidance

The author seeks:

  • Best practices for decoupling Identity from the domain layer.
  • Examples or patterns others have used successfully.

Typical Solutions (industry best practices)

  • Map IdentityUser to Domain User: Use separate entities for domain (User in the domain layer) and infrastructure (IdentityUser), and handle mapping between them at the application/infrastructure boundary.
  • Use Interfaces or Adapters: Define domain interfaces for user-related operations and implement them in the infrastructure layer using Identity features.

Conclusion

This discussion is valuable for .NET developers architecting enterprise-grade systems who wish to balance leveraging framework features with maintaining a rigorously clean domain model.

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