Re-using and Editing

1. Download InitialSolution.zip and save it on your computer.

2. Unzip the program file: you can refer to our small guide on manipulating archives. Be careful: some file explorers will simply preview the (zip) archive if you simply double-click on it, but most IDE will not accept to open a file if it has not been actually extracted / unziped!

Renaming

Open InitialSolution that you just extracted in your IDE.

Editing

We will now change (edit) our EditedSolution solution.

1. In Program.cs:

   • replace "Welcome to the lab portion of CSCI 1301!"
   • with "This is my first program.".

2. Build and run the program. Do you notice any change(s)?

3. Insert a new line after the existing Console.WriteLine and before the first } sign and paste the following:

   Console.Write("This is my second message."); 

4. Build and run the program. Do you notice any change(s)?

5. Insert another new line after the one you just created and paste the following:

   Console.Write("This is my third message."); 

6. Build and run the program. Can you notice the difference between WriteLine and Write?

7. Insert another new line after the one you just created and paste the following:

   Console.Write("\t This is my fourth message."); 

8. Build and run the program. Can you tell what \t is doing?

9. Insert another new line after the one you just created and paste the following:

   Console.Write("\n This \n is \n my fifth message.\n");

10. Build and run the program. You should see something like this:

    This is my first program.
    This is my second message.This is my third message.    This is my fourth message.
     This
     is
     my fifth message.

    Can you tell what \n is doing?

11. Have a look at escape sequences and edit your program by adding a statement that displays the \ and the " characters.

12. Add a comment (using // or /* and */) in your program.

Make a back up of what you just did: upload EditedSolution to your remote backup or copy it on your thumb drive. After saving the backup, close your IDE and make sure you can still open the solution. Re-downloading and re-opening solutions is a good way of making sure that your backup is correct.

Starting from a Template

We will first create a new C# project using the template for a “Console App”.

1. Launch your IDE

2. After the IDE launches, look for an option to create a new project. The exact wording varies between different IDEs, but look for one of the following:

   • Create a new project or New or New Solution in the launch screen
     
   • File > New > Project in the IDE menu

3. Look for “Console Application” option and check that the associated language is C#.

   • note to Windows users: you may see multiple options for a framework (.Net Framework or .NET Core) and can choose either, it does not make a difference for this class.
   • On Visual Studio, you would see something like:

   

   Pick the first item, which is for C#.

4. Enter MyFirstProject as the name of the project.

5. Enter MyFirstSolution as the name of the solution.

6. For location or solution directory: choose a good place to save your solution. The best pick would be a folder you created for this lab.

7. Leave the rest as is and click on “Create” or “Ok”.

8. Now answer the following:

   1. A source code file appeared in the main window of your IDE. Compare this code with the code you studied previously: How are they different? How are they the same?

   2. In your file system, navigate to the directory where you stored your project. Open the project directory and compare MyFirstSolution with EditedSolution project you worked on earlier. How are they different? How are they the same?

   3. Try to compile MyFirstSolution. Did the compilation succeed?

   4. Execute MyFirstSolution. What happened? Compare what happened with the EditedSolution project.

Editing the Template

Now you will start writing your own code. We’ll start by writing a very familiar instruction to display a message on the screen.

1. Place the cursor inside the Main method, after static void Main(string[] args) and the opening brace (i.e.{).

2. Create a new line.

3. Type Console then pause

4. After a short moment, an auto-completion feature that displays suggestions and messages should display. This is a common IDE feature to help the programmer. You’ll probably end up using it a lot, but let’s not worry about it for now.

5. Type in .Wri after Console (don’t forget the period!) and notice the good suggestions: you actually want to write WriteLine! Either finish writing WriteLine or select it from the menu that appears.

6. Now type an open parenthesis, i.e. (, and notice that it is closed for you automatically.

7. Type a string of your choice between those two parenthesis, i.e. something like "This is my first message" (and don’t forget the quotes).

   At this point, your Main method should look like this:

   static void Main(string[] args)
   {
       Console.WriteLine("This is my first message!")
   }

8. Compile (build) your program.

9. Oh no, something went wrong! Can you fix this problem?

10. Once you can compile your program without errors, execute it.

11. Make a backup of your project.