Getting to Know Microsoft Visual Studio

Name: Getting to Know Microsoft Visual Studio
Author: Gerald Eckert

Set up and configure Visual Studio to get started on your first project

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Course: On-Demand

Hello, my name is Gerald, in this lesson we'll take a look at downloading, installing, and setting up Visual Studio for software development. First we'll visit the Microsoft website which you can see here on the screen. And this is where you'll download the installer. If you scroll down a little under, meet the Visual Studio family, you'll see different versions of Visual Studio. The first is for Windows. The one in the middle there, as you can see is for Mac. That's the version you'll wanna choose, if you're developing on a Mac, and finally Visual Studio Code which is a lightweight version of Visual Studio. It's still very useful, but we're gonna be using the one on the left Visual Studio for Windows. In this dropdown, you can see several different versions, Community, Professional, and Enterprise. Professional and Enterprise are paid versions and you'll need to purchase a license if you're using those. The Community edition is free and it's a good choice for beginners and people just starting out. And it's also the version we'll use throughout this course. So go ahead and download Community edition. This will download an executable, which is the installer. So download that. And before you run that executable, definitely take a look at this page here that we were redirected to. I highly recommend reading this. It has a lot of good information for first time users of Visual Studio. It has tutorials and it also covers different languages you may be using if you're on .NET, or game programming, or Coding in C++. These can point you in the right direction to get started. So find that executable you downloaded and go ahead and run it. And it'll start up the Visual Studio installer. And that will look just like this screen here. The installer will install Visual Studio Community 22, or whatever version you chose, but it also gives you the options here to install workloads for whatever environment you're gonna be developing on. This first tab called Workloads has all the various workloads and what these are, is a default set of components that you need to develop for that platform. So we can see here, they're broken up into sections. We have web and cloud, desktop, gaming, and other miscellaneous tools. So if I was to click ASP.NET web development, we can see on the right-hand pane here, all the individual components that are going to be installed for this workload. These default options are pretty good. If you do need something specific, there's this individual components tab where you can move over here and select exactly what you need if you're doing something a little unusual. So we can see different frameworks here, different versions, we can see Azure tools. So if your default options for these workloads don't have everything you need, you can come over here, but you shouldn't need to do that. These defaults are usually pretty good. We can also see other programming languages in here like Python, Node.js. There's also workloads for C++. So whatever language you're developing on the workloads should be in here for you. For this course I'm going to be using ASP.NET web development workload and the .NET desktop development workload. So you can see again all the specific components that are going to be installed and I can add extras or take away things that I might not need. That's the Visual Studio installer. After you've selected your workloads in the bottom right there will be an install button. Mine says modified because I already have these installed but it'll look just the same, except it'll say install. So go ahead and install this. And when it's completed, you'll be ready to start programming in Visual Studio. Thanks for watching. Stay tuned for the next lesson where we'll explore the Visual Studio interface and take a look at some important components in Windows inside of Visual Studio.

Beginner Provider : Gerald Eckert 4 Lessons · 22m in Arabic, German, English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Chinese

Course Description

Setting up your workspace is the first step in building software. You need to have the correct tools available for your project and Visual Studio makes this easy. Visual Studio comes with many templates already installed, which are the base files and configurations needed for whatever project you may be working on. Whether it's a game, a website, or a desktop application, Visual Studio provides templates to help get the framework started for you. Learning to use the templates and tools within Visual Studio’s powerful Integrated Development Environment (IDE) will allow you to quickly kick off your next project.

In getting to know Visual Studio, you will learn to set up the Visual Studio workspace. We will cover downloading and installing Visual Studio, navigating the essential windows and user interfaces, and organizing your project to help with efficiency. We will also discuss helpful Visual Studio Extensions and how to install and use them.

What You'll Learn

Set up and organize the Visual Studio workspace for your projects
Download and install Visual Studio
Navigate the essential windows and user interfaces of the IDE with confidence
Understand the tools available within Visual Studio
Identify workloads and components that apply to your project
Install and use helpful Visual Studio Extensions

Key Takeaways

Setting up your workspace with the correct tools is the first step in building software, and Visual Studio makes this easy.
Visual Studio comes with many templates already installed, providing the base files and configurations needed for projects such as games, websites, and desktop applications.
Learning to use the templates and tools within Visual Studio's Integrated Development Environment (IDE) lets you quickly start your next project.
The course covers downloading and installing Visual Studio, navigating essential windows and interfaces, and organizing your project for efficiency.
Visual Studio Extensions can be installed and used to add helpful functionality.

Frequently Asked Questions

What will this course teach me?

You will learn to set up the Visual Studio workspace, navigate the IDE with confidence, understand the tools available within Visual Studio, and identify workloads and components that apply to your project.

What topics are covered in this course?

The course covers downloading and installing Visual Studio, navigating the essential windows and user interfaces, organizing your project to help with efficiency, and using helpful Visual Studio Extensions.

What lessons does this course include?

The course includes four lessons: Downloading and Installing of Visual Studio; Essential Windows and User Interfaces - Part 1; Essential Windows and User Interfaces - Part 2; and Visual Studio Extensions.

What are templates in Visual Studio?

Templates are the base files and configurations needed for whatever project you may be working on. Visual Studio comes with many templates already installed and provides templates to help start the framework for projects such as a game, a website, or a desktop application.

What skills does this course help build?

It relates to skills including Microsoft Visual Studio, Microsoft Visual Programming Language, Visual Studio Online, Visual Studio Extensibility, Visual Studio Tools for Office (VSTO), and Windows App Studio.