Setup Developement Environment for C# Applications
Here, you will learn to install necessary frameworks and tools to develop C# applications.
C# is used for server-side execution for a different kind of application like web, window forms or console, etc. To use C# with your .Net application, you need two things, the .NET Framework and an IDE (Integrated Development Environment).
The .NET Framework
The .NET Framework is a platform where you can write different types of web and desktop-based applications. You can use C#, Visual Basic, F#, and Jscript to write these applications. If you have the Windows operating system, the .NET Framework might already be installed on your PC. Check MSDN to learn about .NET Framework dependencies.
Integrated Development Environment (IDE)
An IDE is a tool that helps you write your programs. Visual Studio is an IDE provided by Microsoft to write the code in languages such as C#, F#, VisualBasic, etc. Use the latest version of Visual Studio (2017) to learn C#.
Visual Studio Community edition is a free for individual developer for personal or commercial use. However, you can purchase a license for Visual Studio Professional or Enterprise edition. Download and install Visual Studio Community from visualstudio.com for free.
Advantages of Visual Studio
- Easy to create, edit, and navigate different files or applications.
- Visual Studio includes an excellent debugger that allows you to debug code easily. Step through the application code to understand it line by line, or identify problems in your code.
- Intellisense support for .Net Framework classes or custom classes.
- NuGet support for installing thrid-party API/plug-ins in an application.
- Supports integration with many other third-party productive utilities, which enhances the development quality and speed.
- Easy to configure, build, and publish .NET applications.
- Provides ALM (Application Life-cycle Management) support for different phases of the development.
Let's write the first C# console program in the next section.