Command-Line Interface (CLI) Tools

The .NET CLI is a cross-platform toolchain that enables you to build, test, run, and publish .NET applications from the command line.

Getting Started with the .NET CLI

The .NET CLI is installed as part of the .NET SDK. To verify your installation, open your terminal or command prompt and run:

dotnet --version

This will output the version of the .NET SDK you have installed.

Common .NET CLI Commands

Creating Projects

Use the dotnet new command to create new .NET projects from templates.

Create a console application:
```
dotnet new console -o MyConsoleApp
```
Create a class library:
```
dotnet new classlib -o MyLib
```
Create an ASP.NET Core web application:
```
dotnet new webapp -o MyWebApp
```

Building Projects

The dotnet build command compiles your project.

dotnet build

This command looks for a project file (e.g., .csproj) in the current directory and builds it.

Running Projects

Use dotnet run to compile and run your application.

dotnet run

This is useful for development and testing.

Restoring Dependencies

Before building or running, you often need to restore project dependencies:

dotnet restore

This command restores packages and other dependencies specified in the project file.

Publishing Applications

To create a self-contained deployment or a framework-dependent deployment, use dotnet publish.

Framework-dependent deployment:
```
dotnet publish -c Release
```

Self-contained deployment (Windows x64):

dotnet publish -c Release -r win-x64 --self-contained false

The -c Release flag optimizes the build for release, and -r specifies the runtime identifier.

Testing Projects

Run tests with the dotnet test command.

dotnet test

This command discovers and runs unit tests from the specified project.

Working with Project Files (.csproj)

Project files define the structure, dependencies, and build configurations of your .NET project. They are written in XML.

<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">

  <PropertyGroup>
    <TargetFramework>net8.0</TargetFramework>
    <ImplicitUsings>enable</ImplicitUsings>
    <Nullable>enable</Nullable>
  </PropertyGroup>

  <ItemGroup>
    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.Extensions.Logging.Abstractions" Version="8.0.0" />
  </ItemGroup>

</Project>

Key Elements:

<Project Sdk="...">: Specifies the SDK used for the project.
<PropertyGroup>: Contains properties like TargetFramework, OutputType, etc.
<ItemGroup>: Groups related items like PackageReference for NuGet packages.

Customizing the Build

You can customize build behavior using properties in your .csproj file or by passing arguments to the CLI commands.

Important Note

Always ensure you are in the correct directory containing your project file (e.g., .csproj) when running .NET CLI commands.

Additional Resources

dotnet new Command
dotnet build Command
dotnet run Command
Migrating from project.json (for older .NET Core versions)