Setting Up Our Own Environment

Although this course comes with some interactive tools that will allow us to execute code samples directly in the browser, we'll need to set up our own development environment to be able to use gRPC in our own projects. Since we'll be looking at .NET-specific gRPC implementation, we'll need the following:

• A machine running either Windows, Mac, or Linux

• .NET SDK

• A suitable IDE or code editor

Downloading .NET SDK

The .NET SDK contains everything we need to build and run .NET applications, including its command-line interface (CLI), which can be used in any development environment.

The SDK can be downloaded via this link. It’s safe to use the latest full-release version.

Setting up a code editor

A code editor is a specialist piece of software that will help us write the code by highlighting keywords in our programming language. However, it usually lacks the capabilities to perform other necessary actions, such as creating new projects and compiling code into executable files. We would need to use the CLI for these actions. However, because a code editor is limited in its capabilities, it's typically more lightweight than a full-fledged IDE and is faster to load.

Regardless of which operating system we're on, the recommended code editor is Visual Studio Code, which can be downloaded via this link.

Setting up an integrated development environment

An integrated development environment (IDE) allows us to not only write code, but also perform all the steps of application management, including the creation of new projects and compilation of our code into executables from the graphical user interface (GUI).

There are several IDE options available for .NET developers, depending on which operating system they choose to use. Each has its pros and cons. They include the following:

• Visual Studio 2022

• Visual Studio for Mac

• JetBrains Rider