Is there a *very* lightweight IDE for .net? [close

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Closed 6 years ago.

Does anyone know of a good lightweight IDE for .net? Often times I open VS and create a new project just to see if a line compiles, to test a quick method, or something trivial like that.

Essentially what I want is an app similar to notepad I can open, have the basic class structure already defined, and be able to compile/run it. It would be fine if it was always a console app.

Answer 1

Check out Snippet Compiler. I use it often, it's very small and minimizes to the system tray until you need it.

Answer 2

I would check the C# Express Editions (If you are using C#). I leave it open with a basic console project already loaded. I just paste the code I want into that to quickly see if it compiles.

Answer 3

just create a text file, save it as .cs and call the compiler from the command line, or create a batch file that takes the filename as parameter.

Here's the lowdown on the C# 2.0 compiler command line : MSDN article

Answer 4

SharpDevelop is pretty nice. I've not used it for C# (I mainly work on the OS stack) but I used it for small console IronPython program a couple of months back and it was a joy to work with.

Answer 5

Personally, I've run into a lot of friction using Snippet Compiler.

So, I tend to use LINQPad to test snippets. It's pretty convenient for testing individual lines of code, or most "full" program snippets, as well as evaluating LINQ statements against a database.

It features a really awesome view of results, so that complex types are displayed in an easy-to-read structure.

From their site:

• LINQPad reports the execution time in the status bar, so you won't have to manually create a Stopwatch class for performance testing.
• Want to test a variation of your snippet? Ctrl+Shift+C instantly clones your snippet so you can run another version side-by-side.
• You can return to saved queries in single click, thanks to the My Queries treeview. Some people are using LINQPad as a scripting tool!

The only real snag that run into with LINQPad is in the "full program" mode (where you're defining methods, instead of just calling individual statements) you can't create extension methods, because everything happens inside of a the context of a hidden type (and extension methods can't be defined in a nested type).This has since been addressed, and LINQPad supports defining extension methods now.

Answer 6

QuickSharp is pretty good.

Here's the description from the home page:

QuickSharp is a streamlined integrated development environment for Microsoft's .NET platform; it provides a simple, uncluttered development approach that lets you get programming in an instant. QuickSharp doesn't use solutions or projects, programs and libraries are developed as individual files making development a breeze. With QuickSharp you can work closer to the .NET Framework development tools and learn to use the most advanced development platform for Windows from the ground up.