0.2.16 How to Install Visual Studio

Visual Studio Is the Development Environment for Your C# Work

Visual Studio is the integrated development environment, or IDE, you will use to open and work with the C# applications in this course.

An IDE brings several development tools together in one application.

Visual Studio can help you:

• open a supplied solution;
• browse the files in that solution;
• edit source code;
• build the application;
• run the application;
• and later inspect what the program is doing while it runs.

For now, the goal is simply to get the correct development environment installed and ready.

Use the Course-Provided Visual Studio Route

Begin with the installation or access directions provided by the course.

Do not substitute Visual Studio Code for Visual Studio. They are different products.

Also avoid downloading Visual Studio installers from third-party software sites.

Use the course-provided route or Microsoft's official Visual Studio installer.

Install the Development Features the Course Needs

Visual Studio uses workloads to group development tools by the kind of software you plan to create.

The FIT applications use C# desktop development.

Microsoft's current Visual Studio guidance uses the .NET desktop development workload for WPF and other .NET desktop applications.

If your course directions specify additional components or a particular supported .NET version, use those course requirements.

You do not need to install every Visual Studio workload.

Installing unrelated web, mobile, C++, game-development, or cloud tools will not make the FIT projects work better.

Let the Installer Complete

The installer may download a substantial amount of software.

Allow the installation to finish before trying to open a course project.

If the installer requests a restart, save your other work and follow the normal restart process before continuing.

Open Visual Studio

Launch Visual Studio after installation.

At this stage, you do not need to create your own project.

Your course will provide applications for you to open and examine.

The important result is that Visual Studio opens successfully.

If a Required Workload Is Missing Later

Visual Studio can be modified after installation.

If a supplied course project later reports that a required desktop-development component is unavailable, return to the Visual Studio Installer and modify the existing installation rather than installing a second unrelated IDE.

The course directions should identify the required environment.

Keep the Goal Simple

You are ready to continue when:

• Visual Studio is installed or available in the approved course environment;
• the application opens;
• and the .NET desktop development tools required by the course are available.

You do not need to understand the code yet.

The next pages will help you recognize how Visual Studio organizes an application before you begin working with the C# objects inside it.