Tooling Overview

Here's an overview of the key tools you'll encounter in your .NET journey:

Install the dotnet CLI

Visit the official .NET website: https://dot.net
Download and install the .NET SDK for your operating system
Verify the installation by opening a terminal and running:
```
dotnet --version
```
You should get the version number of the .NET SDK installed on your system.

Install Visual Studio Code

Visual Studio Code (VS Code) is a lightweight but powerful source code editor that works well with .NET development. Here's how to install it:

Visit the official Visual Studio Code website: https://code.visualstudio.com/
Download the installer for your operating system (Windows, macOS, or Linux)
Run the installer and follow the installation wizard
Once installed, open VS Code

Install C# Extension for VS Code

To enhance your .NET development experience in VS Code:

Open VS Code
Go to the Extensions view by clicking on the square icon in the left sidebar or pressing Ctrl+Shift+X (Windows/Linux) or Cmd+Shift+X (macOS)
Search for "C#" in the Extensions marketplace
Look for the C# Dev Kit extension by Microsoft and click "Install"

This extension provides features like IntelliSense, debugging, and more for C# development in VS Code. NOTE: the extension has licensing requirements for businesses but is free for individuals to use.

Using the dotnet CLI

The .NET Command Line Interface (CLI) is a cross-platform tool for developing, building, running, and publishing .NET applications. Here are some essential commands:

dotnet new: Creates a new project, configuration file, or solution based on the specified template.
```
dotnet new console -n MyConsoleApp
```
Common templates include:
- console: Console application
- classlib: Class library
- web: ASP.NET Core empty web app
- webapi: ASP.NET Core Web API
- mvc: ASP.NET Core Web App (Model-View-Controller)
- blazorserver: Blazor Server App
- blazorwasm: Blazor WebAssembly App
- wpf: Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) Application
- winforms: Windows Forms Application
To list all available templates:
```
dotnet new list
```
To install additional templates:
```
dotnet new install <TEMPLATE_PACKAGE_NAME>
```
For example, to install the Microsoft.AspNetCore.SpaTemplates:
```
dotnet new install Microsoft.AspNetCore.SpaTemplates
```
dotnet build: Builds a .NET project and all its dependencies.
```
dotnet build
```
dotnet publish: Publishes the application and its dependencies for deployment.
```
dotnet publish -c Release
```
dotnet run: Runs source code without any explicit compile or launch commands.
```
dotnet run
```
dotnet restore: Restores the dependencies and tools of a project.
```
dotnet restore
```
dotnet test: Runs unit tests using the test runner specified in the project.
```
dotnet test
```

Visual Studio Code

Visual Studio Code is a lightweight but powerful source code editor that we'll use throughout this course. It's cross-platform and offers excellent support for .NET development.

Important Extensions

C# Dev Kit: This extension provides a rich C# editing experience and debugging capabilities, among other things.
NuGet Gallery: Provides a nice UI for exploring NuGet packages. (Much nicer than using the CLI, IMO.)

Other IDEs/Tools

While we'll focus on VS Code in this course, it's worth mentioning other popular tools in the .NET ecosystem:

Visual Studio: A full-featured IDE for Windows, offering comprehensive .NET development capabilities.
ReSharper: A powerful extension for Visual Studio that enhances productivity with code inspections, refactorings, and navigation features. Spencer considers it 100% essential for VS development.
JetBrains Rider: A cross-platform .NET IDE developed by JetBrains, known for its performance and advanced features. Spencer considers it the best .NET IDE available (sorry Microsoft)

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