Helpful Resources

Writing in C#

C# is a modern object-oriented programming language. It is the most popular of the .NET languages. Many resources are available to learn about how to program using C# (both books and online resources). Here are a few online resources to learn more:

• Microsoft C# Guide
• Tutorials Teacher
• Microsoft Virtual Academy

Writing VB.NET

VB.NET is an object-oriented programming language. It also targets the .NET framework. Some free online resources are:

• Microsoft Visual Basic Guide
• Microsoft Virtual Academy

Using Visual Studio

Visual Studio is an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) that can be used to develop software in many programming languages.

Refer to: Visual Studio.

To develop User Defined Properties for MASTA, the installation of the .NET desktop development workload is required.

Ensure the .NET Framework 4.6.2 targeting pack is installed (this may need to be individually selected under the Individual Components tab of the Visual Studio Installer).

A Code Solution can be compiled within Visual Studio to create a Plugin (i.e. a compiled version of a Code Solution) and verify the syntax of the code.

Using Visual Studio Code

Visual Studio Code is a lightweight code editor that can provide syntax highlighting and autocomplete when writing code.

Refer to: Visual Studio Code.

There are a variety of extensions that can be installed to enhance the functionality around different programming languages.

Refer to: Visual Studio Code C# documentation

When creating a Code Solution from within MASTA there is an option to create some Editor Tasks for use within Visual Studio Code. The user should choose this option to ease development of User Defined Properties. To compile the Code Solution from within Visual Studio Code (assuming the default keyboard settings), the user should press Ctrl+Shift+B. This will list the set of build tasks that are available:

Using the <Arrow> keys one of the build tasks can be selected. The user should a choose a matching architecture to the installation of MASTA i.e. if 64-bit MASTA is installed a x64 build task should be selected. Building/compiling a Code Solution will check the syntax correctness of the user’s code.