Getting Started with Visual Studio

Welcome to Visual Studio

Visual Studio is a powerful, full‑featured IDE for building modern applications across .NET, C++, Python, JavaScript, and many other platforms. This tutorial walks you through the essential steps to get up and running quickly.

Step 1 – Install Visual Studio

  1. Visit the official download page.
  2. Select the Community edition (free for individuals, open‑source, and small teams).
  3. Run the installer and choose the workloads you need (e.g., ".NET desktop development", "ASP.NET and web development").
  4. Click Install and wait for the components to download.

Tip: You can modify workloads later via Tools → Get Tools and Features….

Step 2 – Create Your First Project

After installation, launch Visual Studio and follow these steps:

  1. Click Create a new project on the start window.
  2. Choose Console App → Console App (.NET Core) and press Next.
  3. Enter a project name, e.g., HelloWorld, select a location, and click Create.
  4. Visual Studio generates a Program.cs file with a simple Console.WriteLine call.
  5. Press Ctrl + F5 to run without debugging.
using System;

namespace HelloWorld
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Hello, Visual Studio!");
        }
    }
}

Step 3 – Build, Run & Debug

Visual Studio provides one‑click actions for building and debugging:

  • Build: Ctrl + Shift + B – compiles the solution.
  • Run: Ctrl + F5 – starts without the debugger.
  • Debug: F5 – launches with breakpoints active.

Set a breakpoint by clicking the gutter next to a line of code, then press F5 to step through.

Next Steps

Now that you have a basic project, explore these topics:

Happy coding!