Tutorial: Create a .NET console application using Visual Studio

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This tutorial shows how to create and run a .NET console application in Visual Studio 2022.

Prerequisites

• Visual Studio 2022 version 17.1 or later with the .NET desktop development workload installed. The .NET 6 SDK is automatically installed when you select this workload.

  For more information, see Install the .NET SDK with Visual Studio.

Create the app

Create a .NET console app project named "HelloWorld".

1. Start Visual Studio 2022.

2. On the start page, choose Create a new project.

   

3. On the Create a new project page, enter console in the search box. Next, choose C# or Visual Basic from the language list, and then choose All platforms from the platform list. Choose the Console Application template, and then choose Next.

   

   Tip

   If you don't see the .NET templates, you're probably missing the required workload. Under the Not finding what you're looking for? message, choose the Install more tools and features link. The Visual Studio Installer opens. Make sure you have the .NET desktop development workload installed.

4. In the Configure your new project dialog, enter HelloWorld in the Project name box. Then choose Next.

   

5. In the Additional information dialog, select .NET 6 (Long-term support), and then select Create.

   The template creates a simple application that displays "Hello World" in the console window. The code is in the Program.cs or Program.vb file:

   Console.WriteLine("Hello, World!");
   

   Imports System
   
   Module Program
       Sub Main(args As String())
           Console.WriteLine("Hello World!")
       End Sub
   End Module
   

   If the language you want to use is not shown, change the language selector at the top of the page.

6. For C#, the code is just a line that calls the Console.WriteLine(String) method to display "Hello World!" in the console window. Replace the contents of Program.cs with the following code:

   namespace HelloWorld
   {
       class Program
       {
           static void Main(string[] args)
           {
               Console.WriteLine("Hello World!");
           }
       }
   }
   

   ' This step of the tutorial applies only to C#.
   

   The code defines a class, Program, with a single method, Main, that takes a String array as an argument. Main is the application entry point, the method that's called automatically by the runtime when it launches the application. Any command-line arguments supplied when the application is launched are available in the args array.

   In the latest version of C#, a new feature named top-level statements lets you omit the Program class and the Main method. Most existing C# programs don't use top-level statements, so this tutorial doesn't use this new feature. But it's available in C# 10, and whether you use it in your programs is a matter of style preference.

Run the app

1. Press Ctrl+F5 to run the program without debugging.

   A console window opens with the text "Hello World!" printed on the screen.

   

2. Press any key to close the console window.

Enhance the app

Enhance the application to prompt the user for their name and display it along with the date and time.

1. In Program.cs or Program.vb, replace the contents of the Main method, which is the line that calls Console.WriteLine, with the following code:

   Console.WriteLine("What is your name?");
   var name = Console.ReadLine();
   var currentDate = DateTime.Now;
   Console.WriteLine($"{Environment.NewLine}Hello, {name}, on {currentDate:d} at {currentDate:t}!");
   Console.Write($"{Environment.NewLine}Press any key to exit...");
   Console.ReadKey(true);
   

   Console.WriteLine("What is your name?")
   Dim name = Console.ReadLine()
   Dim currentDate = DateTime.Now
   Console.WriteLine($"{Environment.NewLine}Hello, {name}, on {currentDate:d} at {currentDate:t}")
   Console.Write($"{Environment.NewLine}Press any key to exit...")
   Console.ReadKey(True)
   

   This code displays a prompt in the console window and waits until the user enters a string followed by the Enter key. It stores this string in a variable named name. It also retrieves the value of the DateTime.Now property, which contains the current local time, and assigns it to a variable named currentDate. And it displays these values in the console window. Finally, it displays a prompt in the console window and calls the Console.ReadKey(Boolean) method to wait for user input.

   Environment.NewLine is a platform-independent and language-independent way to represent a line break. Alternatives are \n in C# and vbCrLf in Visual Basic.

   The dollar sign ($) in front of a string lets you put expressions such as variable names in curly braces in the string. The expression value is inserted into the string in place of the expression. This syntax is referred to as interpolated strings.

2. Press Ctrl+F5 to run the program without debugging.

3. Respond to the prompt by entering a name and pressing the Enter key.

   

4. Press any key to close the console window.

Additional resources

• Current releases and long-term support releases

Next steps

In this tutorial, you created a .NET console application. In the next tutorial, you debug the app.

Debug a .NET console application using Visual Studio

This tutorial shows how to create and run a .NET console application in Visual Studio 2019.

Prerequisites

• Visual Studio 2019 version 16.9.2 or a later version with the .NET Core cross-platform development workload installed. The .NET 5.0 SDK is automatically installed when you select this workload.

  For more information, see Install the .NET SDK with Visual Studio.

Create the app

Create a .NET console app project named "HelloWorld".

1. Start Visual Studio 2019.

2. On the start page, choose Create a new project.

   

3. On the Create a new project page, enter console in the search box. Next, choose C# or Visual Basic from the language list, and then choose All platforms from the platform list. Choose the Console Application template, and then choose Next.

   

   Tip

   If you don't see the .NET templates, you're probably missing the required workload. Under the Not finding what you're looking for? message, choose the Install more tools and features link. The Visual Studio Installer opens. Make sure you have the .NET Core cross-platform development workload installed.

4. In the Configure your new project dialog, enter HelloWorld in the Project name box. Then choose Next.

   

5. In the Additional information dialog, select .NET 5.0 (Current), and then select Create.

   

The template creates a simple "Hello World" application. It calls the Console.WriteLine(String) method to display "Hello World!" in the console window.

The template code defines a class, Program, with a single method, Main, that takes a String array as an argument:

using System;

namespace HelloWorld
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Hello World!");
        }
    }
}

Imports System

Module Program
    Sub Main(args As String())
        Console.WriteLine("Hello World!")
    End Sub
End Module

Main is the application entry point, the method that's called automatically by the runtime when it launches the application. Any command-line arguments supplied when the application is launched are available in the args array.

If the language you want to use is not shown, change the language selector at the top of the page.

Run the app

1. Press Ctrl+F5 to run the program without debugging.

   A console window opens with the text "Hello World!" printed on the screen.

   

2. Press any key to close the console window.

Enhance the app

Enhance the application to prompt the user for their name and display it along with the date and time.

1. In Program.cs or Program.vb, replace the contents of the Main method, which is the line that calls Console.WriteLine, with the following code:

   Console.WriteLine("What is your name?");
   var name = Console.ReadLine();
   var currentDate = DateTime.Now;
   Console.WriteLine($"{Environment.NewLine}Hello, {name}, on {currentDate:d} at {currentDate:t}!");
   Console.Write($"{Environment.NewLine}Press any key to exit...");
   Console.ReadKey(true);
   

   Console.WriteLine("What is your name?")
   Dim name = Console.ReadLine()
   Dim currentDate = DateTime.Now
   Console.WriteLine($"{Environment.NewLine}Hello, {name}, on {currentDate:d} at {currentDate:t}")
   Console.Write($"{Environment.NewLine}Press any key to exit...")
   Console.ReadKey(True)
   

   This code displays a prompt in the console window and waits until the user enters a string followed by the Enter key. It stores this string in a variable named name. It also retrieves the value of the DateTime.Now property, which contains the current local time, and assigns it to a variable named currentDate. And it displays these values in the console window. Finally, it displays a prompt in the console window and calls the Console.ReadKey(Boolean) method to wait for user input.

   Environment.NewLine is a platform-independent and language-independent way to represent a line break. Alternatives are \n in C# and vbCrLf in Visual Basic.

   The dollar sign ($) in front of a string lets you put expressions such as variable names in curly braces in the string. The expression value is inserted into the string in place of the expression. This syntax is referred to as interpolated strings.

2. Press Ctrl+F5 to run the program without debugging.

3. Respond to the prompt by entering a name and pressing the Enter key.

   

4. Press any key to close the console window.

Additional resources

• Current releases and long-term support releases

Next steps

In this tutorial, you created a .NET console application. In the next tutorial, you debug the app.

Debug a .NET console application using Visual Studio

This tutorial is only available for .NET 5 and .NET 6. Select one of those options at the top of the page.