Use VS Code to Edit WebApi Projects

You can use Visual Studio Code (VS Code) as an editor for web API projects. VS Code is a lightweight, cross-platform code editor that provides a rich set of features and extensions for working with various programming languages, including C# and .NET.

To work with ASP.NET Web API projects in VS Code, you need to follow these steps:

1. Install the necessary extensions:
   • C# extension: This extension provides C# language support, IntelliSense, debugging, and other features specific to C# development.
   • ASP.NET Core Extension Pack: This extension pack includes several extensions tailored for ASP.NET Core development, such as Razor syntax highlighting, project scaffolding, and more.
2. Open your web API project folder in VS Code:
   • Launch VS Code and use the “Open Folder” option to select and open the folder containing your web API project.
3. Configure launch settings (optional):
   • If you want to debug your web API project from within VS Code, you can configure the launch settings by creating a .vscode/launch.json file in your project folder. The C# extension provides a launch configuration template specifically for ASP.NET Core applications.
4. Build and run your web API project:
   • Use the integrated terminal in VS Code to run commands such as dotnet build or dotnet run to build and start your Web API project.
5. Edit and modify your code:
   • Use the built-in code editor in VS Code to modify your C# code files, controllers, models, and other components of your Web API project. VS Code provides features like syntax highlighting, code completion, and code navigation to help you write and navigate your code effectively.
6. Debug your web API project:
   • If you have configured the launch settings, you can use the built-in debugger in VS Code to set breakpoints, step through your code, and inspect variables and objects during runtime.

VS Code provides a streamlined and efficient development experience for ASP.NET Core Web API projects. Its extensibility through various extensions allows you to customize and enhance your development workflow based on your specific needs. These capabilities are less feature-rich than typical Visual Studio development, and more bare bones (no project system, debugger configuration, command line build and run). But it is free!

Next time, we will look at how the new extension that Microsoft just released: C# Dev Kit, which brings richer C# project features to VS Code.