Microsoft has announced a .NET MAUI extension for Visual Studio Code

On July 12 (JST), Microsoft announced the “.NET MAUI” extension for “Visual Studio Code”. It includes the recently released “C# Dev Kit”, which provides a complete set of tools for developing cross-platform desktop and mobile applications on Windows, macOS and Linux.

“.NET MAUI” (.NET Multi-platform App UI) is the successor to “Xamarin”, whose support is scheduled to end in May 2024. Covering both desktop and mobile, you can create apps that run natively on every platform (Windows, macOS , iOS, Android) with one project, one code.

“Visual Studio” (Windows/Mac) is mainly used for developing “.NET MAUI” applications, but if you install this extension, you can install the components needed for “.NET MAUI” development step by step. You can also develop with “Visual Studio Code”. It seems to be particularly useful for developers who are more familiar with “Visual Studio Code” than “Visual Studio”, as well as in Linux environments without “Visual Studio”.

A step-by-step introduction to the components necessary for .NET MAUI development

The C# editing capabilities of the .NET MAUI extension are supported by a new, updated C# extension that provides robust code completion using IntelliSense. You can also take advantage of solution explorer and native test explorer provided by “C# Dev Kit” and AI development support by “IntelliCode for C# Dev Kit”.

Additionally, this preview adds target devices for the following bug fixes:

• windows: debugging on local windows machine, android emulator, and android device
• macOS: Debug on Mac Local, iOS Simulator or Device, Android Emulator or Device
• linux: Debugging on Android devices and emulators

However, please note that it has not been fully tested on iOS and “Xcode” beta. There are also some other preview limitations, such as XAML and .NET Hot Reload is not supported yet.

C# Dev Kit and .NET MAUI use the same licensing model as Visual Studio, in that some functionality is built on the same foundation as Visual Studio. For personal development, educational use, open source development, it is free to use as “Visual Studio Community”. However, enterprise organizations (more than 250 computers or more than $1 million in annual revenue) will need a paid license such as a “Pro”, “Enterprise”, or “GitHub Codespaces” license.