Overview
Welcome to the beginning of your .NET 5 journey! In this post, we will review the following steps to get you on your way:
- Downloading the Latest Version of .NET
- Selecting an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) to work in
- Creating a Local Repository
- Creating Hello, World!
Download .NET
Windows
First up, let’s head over to Microsoft’s .NET download page to download the installer application.
.NET Downloads (Linux, macOS, and Windows) (microsoft.com)
When you’re selecting which version you want to use, I would select the version that has “Current” as its status. Right now it’s .NET 5.0. Of course, the exception to this would be if you are wanting to check out some of the upcoming features in a more recent version or if your workplace has a version as their standard (wouldn’t want to be the guy that had a one-off!).
Next, select the installer for your OS under the Build apps – SDK section. For Windows, most of the time you will want to select x64 option. It’s important to note that the .NET Runtime will be included with the SDK, so you don’t need to worry about those sections.
Now that the exe is downloaded, you can double click it and select all the default options until your installation is complete.
After you have .NET installed, the next step would be to install the ASP.NET Core Runtime. This will be needed if you plan to do more than Class Library or Console applications. To the Right of the Build apps SDK, you will see a section called Run apps – Runtime.
Click on the Hosting Bundle link, which will download the exe for ASP.NET Core. Once executed, click close and you’re all set!
Linux Ubuntu
If you’re following along on Linux Ubuntu, you will want to use bash commands to install .NET. Below are the bash commands I used. Microsoft has additional information on their Install .NET on Linux post.
Picking Your IDE Or Editor
Now that you have .NET installed, you will need a tool to help write and edit your code. Although this is a personal choice, Microsoft does provides 2 options in Visual Studio and Visual Studio Code that I’ve highlighted below.
- Full Featured IDE
- Extensions
- Free and Paid Versions
- Available on Windows and MacOS.
- Lightweight Editor
- Extensions
- Open Source
- Available on Windows, Linux, and MacOS.
Personally, I will be using Visual Studio, but if you need the flexibility of Visual Studio Code, I would consider installing the following extensions:
- Visual Studio IntelliCode
- C# – C# For Visual Studio Code (powered by OmniSharp).
- Nuget Gallery
Create Local Repository Location
With .NET installed and your IDE selected, now you’ll need a place to start to store all of the code projects. I would recommend creating a folder location that is not too deep in the file system to prevent naming issues later on. Here are a few suggestions:
- Linux Ubuntu: ~/repos.
- Windows: C:\users\myname\repos
Keep in mind that as you get more experience and create more meaningful applications, you will want to store your code in a repository. Feel free to drop by my How To Get Started With Git post when you’re ready to get started!
Hello, .NET World!
As with any new programming journey, it is customary to run your Hello, World example, so let’s do that really quick with .NET CLI!
You’ll need a terminal to open and execute the following commands, with the first one being to navigate to the repos folder we created earlier.
If everything went as expected, you should see an output similar to the one below:
Summary
Congrats! You’ve officially started your journey to making .NET 5 applications. You now have .NET 5 SDK installed, your favorite IDE picked out, and a place for your code to call home! Take a moment to relish the moment!
Feel free to leave a comment below and share this guide with your friends!
Pingback: How To Get Started With Git | Making Code