Installation and Setup

Before learning syntax seriously, you need a working development environment. Good setup is not glamorous, but it removes a large number of beginner problems before they happen.

What you need

For the workflow used in this repository, the practical starting point is:

• the .NET SDK
• a terminal where dotnet works
• an editor such as Visual Studio Code or Visual Studio

Microsoft's current getting-started guidance also points beginners toward VS Code plus C# tooling as a lightweight cross-platform path.

Verify the SDK first

Always verify the SDK before assuming the editor is the problem.

dotnet --version
dotnet --info

If those commands fail, fix that first. Editor integration depends on a working SDK and CLI underneath.

dotnet --version gives you a quick confirmation that the SDK is installed. dotnet --info gives more complete details, including installed runtimes and SDK paths.

Why terminal-first setup helps

Beginners often rely on editor buttons too early. That makes it harder to tell whether a problem comes from the code, the SDK, the editor, or an extension.

A terminal-first check gives you a more reliable baseline:

• can the SDK be found
• can projects be created
• can projects build and run

Once that works, the editor becomes a convenience layer instead of a mystery box.

A practical first check

dotnet new console -n SetupCheck
dotnet run --project SetupCheck

If this works, your environment is already capable of basic C# development.

Common setup mistakes

The most common issues are:

• installing only a runtime instead of the SDK
• having dotnet missing from the shell PATH
• using an editor extension without a matching local SDK
• mixing multiple SDK versions without understanding which one the project uses

Practice

Run dotnet --version and dotnet --info on your machine. Write down the SDK version and one runtime version you see in the output.