Manual Mapping

Manual object mapping in ASP.NET Core means explicitly assigning values from one object to another without using third-party libraries like AutoMapper. This approach gives you full control over how properties are mapped and allows for custom transformations if needed.

For instance, if an Employee entity has properties such as Id, Name, Email, and Department, and we need to convert it into an EmployeeDTO without exposing sensitive data like Id, a manual mapping method can selectively map only the necessary fields. However, it comes with trade-offs, such as increased boilerplate code and the need for manual updates whenever the data model changes. In a real-world ASP.NET Core application, manual mapping can be implemented using static helper methods or extension methods that take an entity as input and return a DTO, ensuring that the mapping logic remains centralized and reusable across different parts of the application.