This print for content only-size & color not accurate 7" X 9-1/4" / casebound / malloy

➤

Programs ➤ Visual Studio 2008 ➤ Visual Studio Tools folder (see Figure 2-1).

Figure 2-1.

The Visual Studio 2008 command prompt

The benefit of using this particular command prompt is that it has been preconfigured to

provide access to each of the .NET development tools. Assuming you have a .NET development

environment installed, type the following command and press the Enter key:

csc -?

If all is well, you should see a list of command-line arguments of the C# command-line

compiler (where csc stands for the C-sharp compiler).

Building C# Applications Using csc.exe

While it is true that you may never decide to build a large-scale application using the C# command-

line compiler, it is important to understand the basics of how to compile your code files by hand. I

can think of a few reasons you should get a grip on the process:

• The most obvious reason is the simple fact that you might not have a copy of Visual Studio

2008.

• You may be in a university setting where you are prohibited from using code generation

tools/IDEs in the classroom.

• You plan to make use of automated build tools such as MSBuild or NAnt, which require you

to know the command-line options of the tools you are utilizing.

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• You want to deepen your understanding of C#. When you use graphical IDEs to build appli-

cations, you are ultimately instructing csc.exe how to manipulate your C# input files. In this

light, it’s edifying to see what takes place behind the scenes.

Another nice by-product of working with csc.exe in the raw is that you become that much

more comfortable manipulating other command-line tools included with the .NET Framework 3.5

SDK. As you will see throughout this book, a number of important utilities are accessible only from

the command line. 

To illustrate how to build a .NET application IDE-free, we will build a simple executable assem-

bly named TestApp.exe using the C# command-line compiler and Notepad. First, you need some

source code. Open Notepad (using the Start ➤ Programs ➤ Accessories menu option) and enter the

following trivial C# code: