Lesson 2 / 26

Your First App with the CLI

Create, run and publish a console app using only the dotnet command line.

The dotnet CLI

Every task has a verb: dotnet new creates a project, dotnet run builds and runs it, dotnet build only compiles, and dotnet publish prepares it for deployment.

Create and run

These three commands scaffold a console project, move into it and run it. dotnet new console creates a .csproj and a Program.cs.

dotnet new console -o HelloApp
cd HelloApp
dotnet run

Output:

Hello, World!

Check your version

Run dotnet --info when something behaves oddly. It shows which SDK you are using; a global.json file in a parent folder can pin a different one than you expect.

Quick check: Which command builds the project and then starts it?

  • dotnet new
  • dotnet run
  • dotnet add
  • dotnet restore
Answer

dotnet run — `dotnet run` restores, builds and launches the app in one step.