C# on Visual Studio Code

installation

Download .NET Core SDK installer and install it.

https://www.microsoft.com/net/download



Install Visual Studio Code

Install Visual Studio Code extensions for C# Development

C# (C# for Visual Studio Code (powered by OmniSharp))

Create a C# project

Create a folder for your .NET application, e.g. NetApp.

Open a command windows and go to the folder.

Run

dotnet new

Output:

E:\Work\NetApp>dotnet new
Created new C# project in E:\Work\NetApp.

Build the project

Open the folder via Visual Studio

Visual Studio Code will prompt:

Required assets to build and debug are missing from your project, Add them?

Click Yes

The operation is same as

Create a .vscode folder

Add a launch.json file into the .vscode folder

{
"version": "0.2.0",
"configurations": [
{
"name": ".NET Core Launch (console)",
"type": "coreclr",
"request": "launch",
"preLaunchTask": "build",
"program": "${workspaceRoot}\\bin\\Debug\\netcoreapp1.0\\NetApp.dll",
"args": [],
"cwd": "${workspaceRoot}",
"externalConsole": false,
"stopAtEntry": false,
"internalConsoleOptions": "openOnSessionStart"
},
{
"name": ".NET Core Attach",
"type": "coreclr",
"request": "attach",
"processId": "${command.pickProcess}"
}
]
}

Add a tasks.json file into the .vscode folder

{
"version": "0.1.0",
"command": "dotnet",
"isShellCommand": true,
"args": [],
"tasks": [
{
"taskName": "build",
"args": [
"${workspaceRoot}\\project.json"
],
"isBuildCommand": true,
"problemMatcher": "$msCompile"
}
]
}

There are unresolved dependencies from 'project.json', Please execute the restore command to continue.

Click Restore

The operation will create a project.lock.json, which is same as run

dotnet restore

Build

Press Ctrl + Shift + B,

Output:

Project NetApp (.NETCoreApp,Version=v1.0) will be compiled because expected outputs are missing
Compiling NetApp for .NETCoreApp,Version=v1.0
Compilation succeeded.
0 Warning(s)
0 Error(s)
Time elapsed 00:00:03.4166048

Run the project

Edit .vscode/task.json

{
"version": "0.1.0",
"command": "dotnet",
"isShellCommand": true,
"args": [],
"tasks": [
{
"taskName": "build",
"args": [
"${workspaceRoot}\\project.json"
],
"isBuildCommand": true,
"problemMatcher": "$msCompile"
},
{
"taskName": "run",
"args": [
"${workspaceRoot}\\project.json"
],
"isBuildCommand": false,
"problemMatcher": "$msCompile"
}
]
}

Run the project

Way 1:

Press Ctrl + P

Input "task ", need a space

Select run

Way 2:

Press Ctrl + Shift + P

Input > Tasks: Run Tasks, press enter

Select run

Output:

Project NetApp (.NETCoreApp,Version=v1.0) was previously compiled. Skipping compilation.
Hello World!

Trick: Run the project with Ctrl+Shift+B

Change the .vscode/task.json by

set task build's isBuildCommand as false,

set task run's isBuildCommand as true,

like:

{
"version": "0.1.0",
"command": "dotnet",
"isShellCommand": true,
"args": [],
"tasks": [
{
"taskName": "build",
"args": [
"${workspaceRoot}\\project.json"
],
"isBuildCommand": false,
"problemMatcher": "$msCompile"
},
{
"taskName": "run",
"args": [
"${workspaceRoot}\\project.json"
],
"isBuildCommand": true,
"problemMatcher": "$msCompile"
}
]
}

Try the trick

Press Ctrl+Shift+B

Output:

Project NetApp (.NETCoreApp,Version=v1.0) was previously compiled. Skipping compilation.
Hello World!

Useful User Settings

Auto save

Select File -> Preferences -> User Settings

// Place your settings in this file to overwrite the default settings
{
"files.autoSave": "afterDelay"
}