All 15 .NET CLI, SDK & Project Structure (csproj) questions
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What is the dotnet CLI, and what are some of its most commonly used commands? What does `dotnet new` do, and how do you list available project templates? What does the `dotnet watch` command do, and how does it speed up local development? What is the structure and purpose of a .csproj file in a modern SDK-style .NET project? What is a .sln (solution) file, and how does it relate to .csproj project files? How does target framework moniker (TFM) selection, like net8.0 or net8.0-windows, affect what a project can do? How do global.json files pin a specific .NET SDK version for a project or repository? What is the difference between framework-dependent deployment (FDD) and self-contained deployment (SCD)? How do you add, remove, and list NuGet package references using the dotnet CLI? What is the difference between dotnet build, dotnet publish, and dotnet run?
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What is the .NET SDK, and how does it differ from the .NET Runtime?

Beginner

Answer

The .NET SDK includes everything needed to build, run, and publish .NET applications: the compiler (Roslyn for C#), the dotnet CLI, MSBuild, and the runtime. The .NET Runtime alone only includes what's needed to execute already-built applications (CLR, base libraries) without build tools. Developer machines need the SDK; production servers running pre-built apps only need the runtime.
# Check installed SDKs and runtimes
dotnet --list-sdks
dotnet --list-runtimes
dotnet --version
Real-world example A CI build agent installs only the SDK to compile and publish an app, while the production Docker image uses a lightweight aspnet:runtime base image without the full SDK to reduce image size.

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

.NET vs .NET Framework;CI/CD Publishing & Deployment
All 15 .NET CLI, SDK & Project Structure (csproj) questions