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C# for Visual Studio Code

Introduction​

This guide will help you set up your development environment for C# using Visual Studio Code. It will guide you through the installation of the .NET SDK, Visual Studio Code, and the C# extension for a complete setup.

Prerequisites​

  • A computer.

Step 1: Install .NET SDK​

The .NET SDK is a free, open-source development platform for building many different types of applications. It includes the C# compiler, the .NET runtime, and the ASP.NET Core runtime.

  1. Download the .NET SDK installer from the official website.
  2. Run the installer and follow the instructions.
  3. Once installed, open a new terminal and run the following command to verify the installation:
dotnet --version

Step 2: Install Visual Studio Code​

Visual Studio Code is a free source code editor developed by Microsoft for Windows, Linux and macOS. It includes support for debugging, embedded Git control, syntax highlighting, intelligent code completion, snippets, and code refactoring.

Windows​

  1. Download the Visual Studio Code installer from the official website.

  2. Run the installer and follow the instructions (Consider adding Open with Code action to Windows Explorer context menu).

  3. Once installed, open Visual Studio Code.

  4. Click on File > Auto Save to enable the auto-save feature.

MacOS​

  1. Download the Visual Studio Code installer from the official website or use the following command in the terminal:
brew install --cask visual-studio-code

  1. (Skip if used brew) Open the downloaded file and drag the Visual Studio Code icon to the Applications folder.

  2. Once installed, open Visual Studio Code.

  3. Open the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P) and type shell command to find the Shell Command: Install 'code' command in PATH command.

  4. Click on File > Auto Save to enable the auto-save feature.

Linux​

  1. Download the Visual Studio Code installer from the official website (available as .deb or .rpm). Or check the Visual Studio Code Insiders version for more availability.

  2. Run the installer and follow the instructions.

  3. Once installed, open Visual Studio Code.

  4. Open the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P) and type shell command to find the Shell Command: Install 'code' command in PATH command.

  5. Click on File > Auto Save to enable the auto-save feature.

Step 3: Install the C# extension​

The C# extension for Visual Studio Code adds support for C# to Visual Studio Code, including features such as syntax highlighting, IntelliSense (code completion), and debugging.

Find them here:

C# Extension

The extensions to install are:

Bonus: Developer Tools​

The following extensions are not required but can be useful:

Open a terminal and run the following command to install CSharpier (code formatter):

dotnet tool install --global csharpier

Then, open KeyboardShortcuts:

Keyboard Shortcuts

Search for Format Document and set the keybinding to Ctrl+S (or Cmd+S on MacOS)

Format Document

Finally, open a C# file and press Ctrl+S (Cmd+S on MacOS) to format the document.

To go further​