All 15 .NET CLI, SDK & Project Structure (csproj) questions
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What is the .NET SDK, and how does it differ from the .NET Runtime? 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 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 does the `dotnet watch` command do, and how does it speed up local development?

Beginner

Answer

`dotnet watch run` monitors source files for changes and automatically rebuilds and restarts (or hot-reloads, when possible) the application, eliminating the manual stop-edit-rebuild-restart cycle during active development. It supports Hot Reload for many code changes without a full restart, preserving application state where feasible.
dotnet watch run
# Edit a .cs file and save --
# the app automatically rebuilds and either hot-reloads or restarts
Real-world example A developer building an ASP.NET Core API uses `dotnet watch run` throughout the day, seeing most controller and service changes reflected within a couple of seconds without manually restarting the server.

Common follow-ups: What kinds of code changes support Hot Reload versus requiring a full restart?;How does dotnet watch differ from IDE-integrated hot reload?

.NET CLI SDK & Project Structure (csproj);Diagnostics & Performance
All 15 .NET CLI, SDK & Project Structure (csproj) questions