Getting Started with Visual Studio in Visual C#.NET

Make Code 39 Full ASCII in Visual C#.NET Getting Started with Visual Studio

Projects are where you put the code files for your programs They store all kinds of things, like references to the NET Framework, resources like graphics or files, and what file should be used to start the project Solutions do the same thing for projects that projects do for files They keep the projects in a folder, and store certain properties For instance, they store which project should be started when debugging starts Neither the project nor the solutions have much to do with a finished program They are just simple organizational structures for Visual Studio The installation of finished program is determined by the setup project The solution itself is just a logical storage mechanism for the source files In reality, the solution is more than a folder It s a file in a folder that is used by Visual Studio to manage the developer experience So, inside the folder for the solution is a file describing the projects within, and then a bunch of folders with the projects themselves There are files for the projects, too files that describe the resources and references for the project They are all XML files that contain text references to the values that you set using Visual Studio When developing in Visual Studio, you shouldn t worry about that In 14 years of working in various versions of Visual Studio, I have had to look at a solution or project file only a few times, and only in special situations Knowing how they work, however, will help you design your project structure The way I work is to look at what I want to be a finished program and consider it a solution Above that, I have a client folder The result looks like Figure 1-3

Client Solution (an application for a client) Project (part of the application, like the user interface) Project Project Solution Project Project Client Figure 1-3: My preferred project structure Solution Project Project Solution Project

This strategy keeps me much more organized and works with the Visual Studio model All I have to do is use the Browse button to change the location of the project and solution It also helps to make the main project of a solution first (like the user interface) before the rest of the solution

The following list describes the project types listed in the New Project dialog box in Visual Studio These kinds of finished programs are ones you can make using the installed templates Windows Projects: Windows projects in Visual C# are programs that compile into a running program, like Microsoft Word, or Visual Studio itself The projects include Windows Forms Application: The classic program Compiles into a program that runs with its own window and with a red close box (with the little X in it) to exit This is the original Windows Program style, gradually being replaced by Windows Presentation Foundation Class Library: Makes a DLL when you re all done This is the basis of the NET Framework, and COM before that It s used to make blocks of reusable code WPF Application: The new program Also compiles into an EXE, but uses a new user interface format called Windows Presentation Foundation I cover this in depth in Book V WPF Browser Application: Just like a WPF application but runs in Internet Explorer This is not a Silverlight application; it s an XBAP application, short for XML Browser Application It has a smaller set of available user interface toys but is still powerful Console application: These EXEs are designed to be run from a command prompt WPF Custom Control Library: This is a way to make actual controls that appear in the toolbox that you can use in your WPF applications Empty Project: Just what it sounds like a project that s empty, poetic It s used to build a program for which you don t have a template Windows Services: These programs appear in the Services control panel Didn t know you could make those with NET You aren t alone It s a powerful feature that few people know about Windows Services are essentially terminate-and-stay-resident, or TSR, programs (Remember those from your DOS days They stay in memory) Check out the article on the topic at csharpfordummiesnet