The Microsoft C/C for Visual Studio Code extension supports IntelliSense, debugging, code formatting, auto-completion. Visual Studio for Mac doesn't support Microsoft C, but does support.NET languages and cross-platform development. For installation instructions, see Install Visual Studio for Mac.
- Entirely understandable misunderstanding. Visual Studio as a Microsoft brand is strongly associated with C. Overused branding, in my opinion, when one considers Visual Studio Online and Visual Studio Code and (in this case) Visual Studio for Mac. – Eljay Dec 25 '19 at 17:13.
- Download Visual Studio Community, Professional, and Enterprise. Try Visual Studio IDE, Code or Mac for free today.
C Visual Studio Compile C
A new version of Microsoft's integrated development environment (IDE) goes live today with the release of Visual Studio 2019 and its cousin Visual Studio 2019 for Mac.
Visual Studio is in a bit of a strange position, and it would be fair for developers to ask why this branded release even exists. Visual Studio 2017 has received nine point releases and countless patch releases since its release two years ago. Each of these releases has brought a mix of new features and bug fixes, and for Visual Studio users, the experience feels comparable to that of, say, Google Chrome, where each new version brings a steady flow of incrementally improved features and fixes.
Indeed, this iterative, incremental model is the one that Microsoft is pushing (and using) for services such as Azure DevOps and is comparable to the continuous development we see for Office 365, which is updated monthly, and the free and open source Visual Studio Code, which also has monthly iterations. With this development process in place, one wonders why we'd bother with 'Visual Studio 2019' at all; let's just have 'Visual Studio' and keep on updating it forever.
The reasons for sticking to the old way of releasing? There are customers who buy perpetual licenses, and a new major version provides an easy opportunity to make certain breaking changes, such as dropping support for old platforms or making certain major changes to the C++ library. To that end, Visual Studio 2019 (finally) drops Windows XP support for C++ projects; you'll have to use the old Visual Studio 2017 C++ compiler if you want to continue targeting the long-obsolete operating system. A new major version is also a good time to make larger user interface changes, and indeed, some of the first things that will be noticed on installing Visual Studio 2019 are the new welcome screen, a new interface for creating projects, and a new title bar that incorporates both the application's menu and a revamped search feature for finding features within the IDE.
AdvertisementAccordingly, the new version does bring a number of bits and pieces that haven't been added to 2017. The one I'm most excited for is the general availability of Live Share. Live Share is a collaborative editing system that works in both Visual Studio and Visual Studio Code, allowing pairs of developers to code and debug together while still seeing their own preferred editor setup. The initial preview of Live Share, back in November 2017, only supported JavaScript (and Microsoft's highly successful TypeScript variant) and C#.
In response to user demand, C++ and Python have been added to the Live Share experience. Python is still something of a novelty in Visual Studio; support for the scripting language was added to Visual Studio 2017 in one of its point releases. Visual Studio 2019 expands on this with support for multiple Python runtime environments, making it easier to switch between interpreters and versions, a more capable debugger, and smarter IntelliSense completion.
C++ developers will benefit from a compiler with a better optimizer, better support for projects built using CMake, and partial support for enforcing the C++ lifetime profile, a set of static, compile-time rules that enable the compiler to detect and warn about unsafe use of pointers and iterators.
With GitHub now a part of Microsoft, Visual Studio is picking up more GitHub integration; 2019 adds the support for GitHub's Pull Request model for managing the integration of patches into a codebase directly within the IDE. The IDE now also includes support for Git's 'stash' feature that allows a set of changes to be temporarily stored so you can switch to a different branch without having to commit them or risk losing them.
As with any new Visual Studio release, there's also the usual range of updated compilers and language versions, such as a preview of C# 8.0 features, new refactorings, and so on.
AdvertisementVisual Studio for Mac, derived from the Xamarin IDE that Microsoft acquired when it bought the cross-platform .NET company, is also updated today. The first iteration of Visual Studio for Mac was basically a rebrand of the Xamarin Studio app—updated to include Microsoft's C# compiler and .NET libraries, instead of Xamarin's clones—with little real relationship to 'real' Visual Studio.
However, Microsoft does appear to be making a real effort to bring the products together in those areas that make sense. Visual Studio 2019 for Mac includes a preview of a new text editor that's built on the same engine as the one in Visual Studio for Windows, with a native macOS user interface and capabilities. This means that both Visual Studios have very similar capabilities in things like IntelliSense, code completion, and quick fixes. The new editor isn't on by default, but it can be enabled for C# and XAML, with more languages planned once those are stabilized. The welcome screen also looks much like its new Windows counterpart.
Microsoft is unifying the experiences in other areas, too; the Unity debugger is now the same between Mac and Windows, and Microsoft intends to bring portions of the Windows Xamarin Forms XAML experience to Mac in a future update.
On top of this, there are numerous performance and stability improvements and lots of accessibility improvements to help those using assistive technologies.
With both Visual Studio for Windows and for Mac, Microsoft has emphasized the importance of user feedback in the development process. Both the point releases and the major updates are guided by user feedback, with, for example, the new Python and Live Share features coming in direct response to user requests. The regular flow of point releases enables Microsoft to put functionality in front of users much sooner than it could with only major updates, and that functionality can be re-shaped and extended in response to feedback. Compared to the olden days of Visual Studio, when you'd file bugs on the Connect site only to have them disappear forever, the experience today is a welcome and refreshing improvement.
Best mac to play sims 4. Hands On Microsoft this week opened the gates on Visual Studio for Mac 2019 8.3, a flexible development environment for .NET, and The Reg can give you the lowdown on some of the new features.
But first, let's see how the Microsofties got here. Redmond has three coding tools under the Visual Studio brand, all of which have different ancestries.
Visual Studio on Windows supports development not only in .NET languages but also C++, Python, JavaScript and Node.js, and cross-platform mobile development using Xamarin, Apache Cordova or C++. Depending on which edition you have, you also get SQL Server database tools, test and coverage frameworks, Microsoft Office and SharePoint development, R for data science work, built-in Docker tools and more.
Xamarin is a cross-platform .NET framework designed mainly for iOS and Android, but also with support for macOS applications. A confusing thing is that Xamarin does not use .NET Core, though it does support the .NET Standard 2.1 specification in its latest version. See here for guidance.
Xamarin evolved from the open-source Mono framework, an implementation of .NET for Windows and Linux. Mono had its own IDE, called MonoDevelop, which unlike Visual Studio was originally written entirely in C#. Xamarin adapted MonoDevelop to become Xamarin Studio. When Microsoft acquired Xamarin in 2016, Xamarin Studio became a Mac-only IDE and was renamed Visual Studio for Mac. You can still get MonoDevelop for Mac, Windows and Linux, though the Mac download is now Visual Studio for Mac, and on Windows you have to build it from source.
Visual Studio Code (VS Code) is a cross-platform editor built with the Electron framework, using Node.js and the Chromium browser engine Blink. VS Code was first previewed in 2015 and has been a remarkable success, now ranking as the top development environment on the popular coding Q&A site StackOverflow by a huge margin. Although lightweight in comparison to Visual Studio, VS Code straddles the boundary between an editor and an IDE, with debugging support and a rich range of extensions.
Following the acquisition, Microsoft has been working on sharing some of its Visual Studio for Windows technology with the Mac version. This goes alongside the development of the cross-platform .NET Core, which has allowed code sharing between Mono and .NET Core, though Mono has not been completely replaced. It is still the case that Visual Studio for the Mac is a very different thing from Visual Studio for Windows.
What can Visual Studio for Mac do?
VS Mac is primarily for Xamarin development. The majority of Xamarin developers code applications for iOS and Android, and there are two different approaches to this.
Xamarin.iOS and Xamarin.Android let you write non-visual code in C# while using native tools to build the UI, Xcode for iOS or a built-in Android designer for Android.
Xamarin Forms is a cross-platform GUI framework. You design the user interface with XAML and build for your chosen target platforms.
You can also go beyond iOS and Android. Xamarin.Mac is for Cocoa applications and uses a similar model to Xamarin.iOS. Xamarin Forms can also target Windows UWP (Universal Windows Platform) and, in preview, macOS.
There is also steadily improving support for games development with Unity.
A glance at the Xamarin forums gives a crude guide to usage. Xamarin Forms has more than double the activity of any other section (over 51,000 threads). Xamarin.Android 34,000, Xamarin.iOS 21,000, and relatively low activity elsewhere – 343 threads for Xamarin.Mac, for example.
On top of this, there are numerous performance and stability improvements and lots of accessibility improvements to help those using assistive technologies.
With both Visual Studio for Windows and for Mac, Microsoft has emphasized the importance of user feedback in the development process. Both the point releases and the major updates are guided by user feedback, with, for example, the new Python and Live Share features coming in direct response to user requests. The regular flow of point releases enables Microsoft to put functionality in front of users much sooner than it could with only major updates, and that functionality can be re-shaped and extended in response to feedback. Compared to the olden days of Visual Studio, when you'd file bugs on the Connect site only to have them disappear forever, the experience today is a welcome and refreshing improvement.
Best mac to play sims 4. Hands On Microsoft this week opened the gates on Visual Studio for Mac 2019 8.3, a flexible development environment for .NET, and The Reg can give you the lowdown on some of the new features.
But first, let's see how the Microsofties got here. Redmond has three coding tools under the Visual Studio brand, all of which have different ancestries.
Visual Studio on Windows supports development not only in .NET languages but also C++, Python, JavaScript and Node.js, and cross-platform mobile development using Xamarin, Apache Cordova or C++. Depending on which edition you have, you also get SQL Server database tools, test and coverage frameworks, Microsoft Office and SharePoint development, R for data science work, built-in Docker tools and more.
Xamarin is a cross-platform .NET framework designed mainly for iOS and Android, but also with support for macOS applications. A confusing thing is that Xamarin does not use .NET Core, though it does support the .NET Standard 2.1 specification in its latest version. See here for guidance.
Xamarin evolved from the open-source Mono framework, an implementation of .NET for Windows and Linux. Mono had its own IDE, called MonoDevelop, which unlike Visual Studio was originally written entirely in C#. Xamarin adapted MonoDevelop to become Xamarin Studio. When Microsoft acquired Xamarin in 2016, Xamarin Studio became a Mac-only IDE and was renamed Visual Studio for Mac. You can still get MonoDevelop for Mac, Windows and Linux, though the Mac download is now Visual Studio for Mac, and on Windows you have to build it from source.
Visual Studio Code (VS Code) is a cross-platform editor built with the Electron framework, using Node.js and the Chromium browser engine Blink. VS Code was first previewed in 2015 and has been a remarkable success, now ranking as the top development environment on the popular coding Q&A site StackOverflow by a huge margin. Although lightweight in comparison to Visual Studio, VS Code straddles the boundary between an editor and an IDE, with debugging support and a rich range of extensions.
Following the acquisition, Microsoft has been working on sharing some of its Visual Studio for Windows technology with the Mac version. This goes alongside the development of the cross-platform .NET Core, which has allowed code sharing between Mono and .NET Core, though Mono has not been completely replaced. It is still the case that Visual Studio for the Mac is a very different thing from Visual Studio for Windows.
What can Visual Studio for Mac do?
VS Mac is primarily for Xamarin development. The majority of Xamarin developers code applications for iOS and Android, and there are two different approaches to this.
Xamarin.iOS and Xamarin.Android let you write non-visual code in C# while using native tools to build the UI, Xcode for iOS or a built-in Android designer for Android.
Xamarin Forms is a cross-platform GUI framework. You design the user interface with XAML and build for your chosen target platforms.
You can also go beyond iOS and Android. Xamarin.Mac is for Cocoa applications and uses a similar model to Xamarin.iOS. Xamarin Forms can also target Windows UWP (Universal Windows Platform) and, in preview, macOS.
There is also steadily improving support for games development with Unity.
A glance at the Xamarin forums gives a crude guide to usage. Xamarin Forms has more than double the activity of any other section (over 51,000 threads). Xamarin.Android 34,000, Xamarin.iOS 21,000, and relatively low activity elsewhere – 343 threads for Xamarin.Mac, for example.
Xamarin Forms Mac support seems to be moribund; it was announced in 2017 but the platform status here was last updated in May 2018 and remains incomplete.
Visual Studio for the Mac also supports ASP.NET Core development using Razor, Angular or React.js, and serverless with Azure Functions.
Under the Vulture's Claw
A cross-platform Xamarin Forms app running on iOS and Android
We installed VS Mac on a 2018 Mac Mini. The installer pulls down the Android SDK for you, but you have to install Xcode separately. All straightforward, but there is a puzzle about .NET Core. Version 3.0 is installed automatically, and you can create ASP.NET Core apps, but when you go to create a mobile app, the option to create an ASP.NET Core API back end is disabled because it 'requires an ASP.NET Core installation'.
The look and feel of the IDE is different from Visual Studio on Windows, as you would expect from the product history. It feels more basic and less refined, and has only a fraction of the features of its similarly named cousin.
Visual Studio Code For Beginners
There is no visual designer for Xamarin Forms, but there is a visual preview. Unfortunately, this did not work for iOS on our very simple demo app, showing instead a MonoTouch exception message. But the app itself worked fine on both Android and iOS. The IDE did crash once or twice but with no loss of work.
Another experiment was to create a Xamarin.Mac application and edit the generated storyboard, which defines the user interface using Xcode. This worked perfectly.
What's new?
VS Mac 8.3 supports .NET Core 3 and C# 8.0, and Xamarin now supports Android 10, Xcode 11 and iOS 13.
One of the big new features, though in preview, is XAML hot reload in Xamarin Forms. This lets you amend the XAML file defining your UI, save it, and see the changes instantly in the app running on an emulator or device.
The Visual Studio Mac native editor shares code with Visual Studio on Windows
The C# editor in VS Mac was rewritten by the Visual Studio team after the Microsoft acquisition. It now has what Microsoft calls a 'fully native UI', raising the interesting question of how much of the old MonoDevelop code, which used cross-platform Gtk#, remains in VS Mac. The new native editor was fully released in July, but VS Mac 8.3 now supports web editing (JavaScript, TypeScript, HTML, CSS and more). This lets Microsoft share more features between Visual Studio on Windows and VS Mac, including improved IntelliSense. You also get proper bidirectional text support and a natty feature called multi-caret editing that lets you overtype multiple regions of selected text simultaneously.
Visual Studio Code Free
There is a new dialog for the NuGet package manager, but care is needed because not all NuGet packages will work on the Mac.
These are highlights; the full list of what's new is here.
C++ Visual Studio For Mac
Observations
Microsoft has two successful Visual Studio development tools, and then there is VS Mac, which is important only for Mac-based Xamarin developers. Xamarin.Mac and Xamarin Forms targeting macOS are both interesting for .NET developers wondering how to get their Windows apps onto a Mac, but both are neglected relative to iOS and Android. If you want to develop for ASP.NET Core you would be better off with Visual Studio on Windows, and probably better off with VS Code with its much larger community and rich extension support. Strategically, it might make sense for Microsoft to invest in making VS Code more useful for Xamarin developers. All that said, VS Mac is substantially improved and the price is right: even the free Community edition is a capable tool. ®
