In ASP.NET Core, the default layout for Razor views is typically specified in a file named "_Layout.cshtml." This file contains the common HTML structure, including headers, footers, and navigation menus, that will be applied to multiple views in your application.

ASP.NET Core achieves cross-platform compatibility by embracing .NET 5 and later versions. These versions are designed to be cross-platform, allowing ASP.NET Core applications to run on Windows, Linux, and macOS. Unlike the older .NET Framework, which was primarily Windows-centric, ASP.NET Core's use of .NET 5 and later versions enables platform-agnostic development.

In ASP.NET Core, middleware components are executed in the order they are added to the Request pipeline. This means that the order of middleware configuration matters, and each middleware component can handle the request and pass it along to the next component. Understanding middleware order is crucial for request processing in ASP.NET Core.

The MVC (Model-View-Controller) folder structure in ASP.NET Core typically includes three main folders: Controllers, Views, and Services. While the Controllers folder contains controller classes, and the Views folder contains the user interface components, the Services folder is where you often place business logic and services that the controllers rely on to perform actions.

When working with ASP.NET Core Identity, user-related data like passwords and email addresses are stored in the "AspNetUsers" table within the database. ASP.NET Core Identity provides a built-in data model and storage mechanism for managing user accounts and authentication.

Microsoft Azure offers a range of services and features specifically tailored for deploying ASP.NET Core applications. These services include Azure App Service, Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), and Azure Functions, making it a suitable choice for ASP.NET Core development and deployment.

Azure DevOps is a popular DevOps tool that can automate the build, test, and deployment processes for ASP.NET Core applications. It provides a CI/CD pipeline for efficient deployment to various environments. Visual Studio is primarily an IDE, while Notepad++ and Fiddler are unrelated to deployment automation.

When a user submits a form in Razor, the data is usually sent to a/an HTTP POST method in a controller. The HTTP POST method is commonly used for form submissions because it allows data to be sent securely in the request body, and it's designed for actions that modify data on the server.

In a custom exception handling middleware, you must manually call the next middleware's InvokeAsync(context) method to ensure that the next middleware in the pipeline gets executed. This allows you to catch exceptions, perform custom handling, and then pass control to subsequent middleware components.

While Visual Studio is a full-fledged integrated development environment (IDE), Visual Studio Code (VS Code) is a lightweight, cross-platform code editor that is highly popular among ASP.NET Core developers. VS Code offers extensions and plugins that make it suitable for ASP.NET Core development, and it's known for its speed and versatility.