In earlier times, when ASP.NET was just Web Forms, URL routing was strictly bound to physical files. In order to implement viable URL convention patterns, the developers were forced to install/configure a dedicated URL rewriting tool using either an external ISAPI filter such as Helicontech's SAPI Rewrite or, starting with IIS7, the IIS URL Rewrite Module.
When ASP.NET MVC was released, the routing pattern was completely rewritten, and developers could set up their own convention-based routes in a dedicated file (RouteConfig.cs or Global.asax, depending on template) using the Routes.MapRoute method. If you've played along with MVC 1 through 5 or WebAPI 1 and/or 2, snippets like this should be quite familiar to you: ...
