Installing and Configuring C sharp

Installing and Configuring C¶

This guide provides step-by-step instructions on installing and configuring C# for development on CacheCows’ CowPress and ToDoMoo. C# is a key component of our technology stack, and proper setup is essential for efficient development.

Installing .NET SDK¶

C# development requires the .NET SDK, which includes the C# compiler and runtime.

1. Download the .NET SDK
   - Navigate to the .NET download page.
   - Select the appropriate SDK based on your operating system.

2. Install the .NET SDK
   - Follow the installation instructions specific to your operating system.
   - Windows users typically have an installer package.
   - MacOS users might use a package manager like Homebrew.
   - Linux users have various options depending on their distribution.

3. Verify Installation
   - Open a command prompt or terminal.
   - Type dotnet --version to check the installed version.

Setting up Your Development IDE¶

Visual Studio (Recommended for Windows)¶

1. Download and Install Visual Studio
   - Download Visual Studio from the official website.
   - Choose the “Community” edition if you need a free version.

2. Install C# Workloads
   - During installation, select the “.NET desktop development” workload.
   - Ensure that the ASP.NET and web development workload is also selected for web projects.

Visual Studio Code (Cross-Platform)¶

1. Download and Install Visual Studio Code
   - Download VS Code from the official website.
   - It is available for Windows, MacOS, and Linux.

2. Install C# Extension
   - Open VS Code.
   - Go to Extensions (square icon on the sidebar).
   - Search for “C#” and install the extension by Microsoft.

Configuring Your Project¶

1. Create a New Project
   - Use dotnet new console for a console application, or choose the appropriate template for your project.

2. Open the Project in Your IDE
   - Open Visual Studio or VS Code and load your project.

3. Restore Dependencies
   - Run dotnet restore in the terminal (inside your project directory) to restore any NuGet packages.

4. Build and Run Your Project
   - Use dotnet build to build your project.
   - Use dotnet run to run your application.

With these steps, you should have a functional C# development environment ready for working on CacheCows’ projects.