Getting started with DOTNET

Introduction

The official .NET Landing Page

.NET is a free, cross-platform, open source developer platform for building many different types of applications. With .NET, you can use multiple languages, editors, and libraries to build for web, mobile, desktop, gaming, and IoT.

• I assume that you already have VS Code installed on your machine
• And you have a basic understanding of how to use it

Download and install the .NET SDK

• To begin using .NET, you will need to install the .NET SDK (Software Development Kit).
• The SDK includes the runtime, libraries, and tools you need
  • to create,
  • build,
  • test,
  • run,
  • and publish .NET applications.

Starting a new project with .NET in Visual Studio Code

• Make sure to install the C# Dev Kit extension in VS Code

Creating a new console application using the .NET CLI

• Open a new terminal in VS Code
• Run the following command to create a new console application

dotnet new console -o <project-name>
# Example: dotnet new console -o MyConsoleApp

• This command creates a new console application project in the specified directory with the given name

Creating a new console application using the VS Code GUI

Creating a new console application using the VS Code GUI

• Open the command palette by pressing Ctrl + Shift + P
• Type > .NET: Create a new project
• Select Console Application from the list of available project types
• Choose the location where you want to save your project
• Type the name of your project and press Enter
• Open the newly created project folder and navigate to the Program.cs file
• You can now start writing your C# code
• To run the application, open the terminal and type dotnet run

Terminal Greetings Example

• In this example, we will create a simple console application that greets the user based on the current date and time.
• Open the Program.cs file in your project folder
• Replace the existing code with the following code:

Console.WriteLine("What is your name?");
var name = Console.ReadLine();
var currentDate = DateTime.Now;
var currentTime = currentDate.Hour;
var message = $"It's {currentDate:t} on {currentDate:d}!";

if (currentTime < 12)
{
    Console.WriteLine($"Good morning, {name}! {message}");
}
else if (currentTime < 18)
{
    Console.WriteLine($"Good afternoon, {name}! {message}");
}
else
{
    Console.WriteLine($"Good evening, {name}! {message}");
}

Console.WriteLine("Press any key to exit...");
Console.ReadKey(true);

• depending on the time of day, the application will greet the user with “Good morning,” “Good afternoon,” or “Good evening.”
• Run the application by typing dotnet run in the terminal
• Enter your name when prompted and press Enter
• The application will display the appropriate greeting based on the current time as shown below:

What is your name?
Ndimofor
Good evening, Ndimofor! It's 6:45 PM on 8/15/2024!
Press any key to exit...