Setting Up a Local Development Environment

Although this course provides us with everything we need to code, build, and execute our applications, we still need to install some tools if we want to perform these actions on our development machine. As long as we have a machine that runs Windows, Mac, or Linux, we must install the following:

• .NET SDK

• A suitable IDE or code editor

Downloading .NET SDK

.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 the official .NET website. It’s recommended to use the latest full-release version.

Setting up a code editor

A code editor is a specialist software that helps 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 need to use the CLI for those 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 the official website.

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. Here are some available IDE options:

• Visual Studio 2022

• Visual Studio for Mac

• JetBrains Rider