Basic C# Console Application template

Question

I am new to C#. I am confused on how to initiate a C# console application. I tried some examples except none of them seem to work. The format of a C# Console Application has changed a lot recently, so I don't know how to start. Could someone help get me started?

Answer 1

No matter what version of framework you are using, the following will always work:

using System;

namespace MyApp 
{
    internal class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Hello World!");
        }
    }
}

However, with newer versions of framework and SDK, the following works for .NET 6+:

Console.WriteLine("Hello, World!");

Above is a complete console app, when the top-level statements are enabled in project:

<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">

  <PropertyGroup>
    <OutputType>Exe</OutputType>
    <TargetFramework>net6.0</TargetFramework>
    <ImplicitUsings>enable</ImplicitUsings>
    <Nullable>enable</Nullable>
  </PropertyGroup>

</Project>

Learn more about new project template

To learn more about the new template, take a look at the following article

• C# console app template generates top-level statements

Which explains new features like:

• Implicit using directive
• Global using directives

Choose between old and new project template

When you create a new .NET (not .NET Framework) console application, you can choose between the old style or new style:

Tutorial - Create a .NET console application using Visual Studio

You can learn more about console applications in the following articles:

• Tutorial: Create a .NET console application using Visual Studio
• Tutorial: Create a simple C# console app in Visual Studio (part 1 of 2)

Answer 2

@Reza Aghaei has provided you with the basics, if you want ready to run code samples check out my article Console Application in C#. And there is a GitHub repository with about 84 projects which include menus and other cool stuff.