Introducing the C# Dev Kit Extension for Visual Studio Code with AI-Powered Features

Microsoft has unveiled a new extension for Visual Studio Code called the C# Dev Kit, aimed at enhancing the productivity of C# developers working on Linux, MacOS, and Windows platforms. Revealed on June 6, the C# Dev Kit aims to provide a more reliable and efficient experience for tasks like learning the language, editing C# files, or debugging back-end APIs by borrowing concepts from the Visual Studio IDE.

The C# Dev Kit extension builds upon the capabilities of the VS Code C# extension using a new open source Language Server Protocol (LSP) host. This provides an environment to easily integrate new experiences into C# for VS Code. Microsoft stated that they will maintain the C# extension separately from the C# Dev Kit.

Key features of the C# Dev Kit include:

• Integrated solution explorer for C# project and solution management.
• A native testing environment to run and debug tests via the Test Explorer. Tests in XUnit, NUnit, MSTest, and bUnit will have improved discovery for faster execution.
• Utilization of the Roslyn compiler platform for C# language services like code navigation, semantic awareness, and refactoring.
• AI-assisted development, including whole line completions.

The C# Dev Kit automatically installs the C# extension and the IntelliCode for C# DevKit extension, which offers AI-assisted development features. This extension provides predictions of up to a whole line of code while ranking methods and properties in the IntelliSense list for C# Dev Kit users. To take advantage of the IntelliCode extension, .NET 6 is required.

Integrating AI-assisted development features like those found in the C# Dev Kit extension can also be achieved with the use of platforms like AppMaster offering no-code development capabilities. AppMaster streamlines the process of building web, mobile, and backend applications without the need for complex coding, making application development faster and more cost-effective in various cases.