MSDN | .NET Core Setup Tutorials

Setting Up Your .NET Core Development Environment

Welcome to the essential guide for setting up your development environment for .NET Core. This section will walk you through the necessary steps to get started with building modern, cross-platform applications.

1. Installing the .NET SDK

The .NET Software Development Kit (SDK) includes everything you need to build and run .NET applications, including the runtime, libraries, and tools. We recommend installing the latest LTS (Long-Term Support) version for stability.

Download the SDK: Visit the official .NET download page: dotnet.microsoft.com/download
Choose Your Platform: Select the installer for your operating system (Windows, macOS, or Linux).
Run the Installer: Follow the on-screen instructions. The installer will typically add the .NET SDK to your system's PATH, making it accessible from the command line.
Verify Installation: Open your terminal or command prompt and run the following command to check if the SDK is installed correctly: dotnet --version You should see the version number of the SDK you just installed.

2. Choosing a Code Editor or IDE

While you can use any text editor, a robust Integrated Development Environment (IDE) or a powerful code editor will significantly enhance your productivity with features like IntelliSense, debugging, and project management.

Visual Studio Code (VS Code): A free, lightweight, and highly extensible code editor with excellent support for .NET via the C# Dev Kit extension. Highly recommended for cross-platform development. Download VS Code
Visual Studio: A full-featured IDE for Windows. Offers a comprehensive set of tools for .NET development, including advanced debugging and design features. The Community edition is free for individual developers, open-source projects, and academic research. Download Visual Studio
JetBrains Rider: A powerful, cross-platform .NET IDE known for its intelligent code analysis and refactoring tools. (Commercial product with a trial). Learn more about Rider

Recommendation: For most users, VS Code with the C# Dev Kit is an excellent starting point.

3. Creating Your First .NET Core Application

Let's create a simple "Hello, World!" console application to test your setup.

Open your terminal or command prompt.
Navigate to your desired project directory. cd path/to/your/projects
Create a new console application: dotnet new console -o MyFirstApp This command creates a new directory named MyFirstApp containing your project files.
Navigate into the project directory: cd MyFirstApp
View the default code: Open the Program.cs file in your chosen editor. It will contain code similar to this: // See https://aka.ms/new-console-template for more information Console.WriteLine("Hello, World!");
Run the application: dotnet run You should see the output: Hello, World!

4. Next Steps

Congratulations! You've successfully set up your .NET Core development environment. You're now ready to explore more advanced topics: