Tools

C# Dev Kit is a Visual Studio Code extension made by Microsoft that adds full C# support to the editor. Without it, VS Code has no understanding of C# — with it, you get the tools you need to write, run, and debug C# programs.

What it adds#

Installing C# Dev Kit gives VS Code three things it doesn’t have by default for C#:

Intelligent autocomplete — as you type, VS Code suggests completions based on the C# language and your project’s code. It shows available methods, properties, and variables so you don’t have to remember everything.

An Integrated Development Environment (IDE) is an application that brings together everything you need to write, organise, and run programs — in one place.

┌─────────────────────────────────────┐
│               IDE                   │
│  ┌──────────┐      ┌─────────────┐  │
│  │   File   │      │   Editor    │  │
│  │ Explorer │      │             │  │
│  └──────────┘      └─────────────┘  │
│  ┌───────────────────────────────┐  │
│  │          Terminal             │  │
│  └───────────────────────────────┘  │
└─────────────────────────────────────┘

The editor#

The editor is where you write your code. It looks like a text editor, but it understands the programming language you’re working in. That understanding powers three features that make a real difference when you’re starting out:

Visual Studio Code (VS Code) is a free, lightweight code editor made by Microsoft. It supports almost every programming language and runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

What it includes out of the box#

VS Code comes with the core features you’d expect from any IDE — a code editor with syntax highlighting, a file explorer, an integrated terminal, and Git support. It handles the basics well for most languages without any extra setup.