.NET CLI, SDK & Project Structure (csproj)

# Check installed SDKs and runtimes
dotnet --list-sdks
dotnet --list-runtimes
dotnet --version

Common follow-ups: What are the different runtime types (ASP.NET Core, Desktop, base .NET)?;How do multiple SDK versions coexist on one machine?

dotnet new webapi -n MyApi
cd MyApi
dotnet restore
dotnet build
dotnet run

Common follow-ups: How does dotnet new differ from Visual Studio's project wizard?;What does dotnet restore actually do under the hood?

<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">
  <PropertyGroup>
    <TargetFramework>net8.0</TargetFramework>
    <Nullable>enable</Nullable>
  </PropertyGroup>
  <ItemGroup>
    <PackageReference Include="Newtonsoft.Json" Version="13.0.3" />
  </ItemGroup>
</Project>

Common follow-ups: What does implicit file globbing include and exclude by default?;How do multi-targeting projects specify multiple TargetFrameworks?

dotnet new sln -n MySolution
dotnet sln add src/MyApi/MyApi.csproj
dotnet sln add tests/MyApi.Tests/MyApi.Tests.csproj
dotnet build MySolution.sln

Common follow-ups: Can you build a project without a .sln file?;How does dotnet sln differ from manually editing the file?

dotnet build -c Release
dotnet publish -c Release -o ./publish --self-contained true -r linux-x64
dotnet run --project src/MyApi

Common follow-ups: What's the difference between framework-dependent and self-contained deployment?;How does dotnet publish handle trimming and AOT compilation?

<PropertyGroup>
  <TargetFramework>net8.0</TargetFramework>
  <!-- vs -->
  <TargetFramework>net8.0-windows</TargetFramework>
</PropertyGroup>

Common follow-ups: How does multi-targeting (net8.0;net481) work in one csproj?;What happens if you reference a platform-specific API without the right TFM?

<PropertyGroup>
  <OutputType>Exe</OutputType>
  <LangVersion>latest</LangVersion>
</PropertyGroup>
<ItemGroup>
  <Compile Remove="Legacy/**/*.cs" />
  <ProjectReference Include="..\MyLib\MyLib.csproj" />
</ItemGroup>

Common follow-ups: How do custom MSBuild targets extend the build process?;What's the difference between PropertyGroup and ItemGroup evaluation order?

dotnet new list
dotnet new webapi -n MyApi --use-controllers
dotnet new gitignore

Common follow-ups: How do you create a custom dotnet new template?;What's the difference between --output and --name options?

{
  "sdk": {
    "version": "8.0.100",
    "rollForward": "latestMinor"
  }
}

Common follow-ups: What do the different rollForward policies (latestPatch, latestMinor, disable) mean?;How does global.json interact with multiple SDKs installed side by side?

<!-- Directory.Build.props at repo root -->
<Project>
  <PropertyGroup>
    <Nullable>enable</Nullable>
    <ImplicitUsings>enable</ImplicitUsings>
    <TreatWarningsAsErrors>true</TreatWarningsAsErrors>
  </PropertyGroup>
</Project>

Common follow-ups: How does Directory.Build.targets differ in import order from Directory.Build.props?;How do you override a shared property in one specific project?