CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c#visual-studio-2010debugging
user1443957
user1443957

Reputation:

Debug C# code without running the application

I'm often in the need of debugging/testing my code or a small part of it.

One way to go is of course to run the application I am developing, or when developing a class library creating a small test application.

Another way is to create a unit test just for debugging purpose and run it in Visual Studio.

But what if when I don't want to write additional code (like disposable unit tests) and I don't want to start the whole application (takes some time to start and to navigate to the code I want to debug)?

Is there a way to run a small portion of code in Visual Stuio respectively interpret C# code?

EDIT

I know about LINQPad.

But sometimes I want to know e.g. how an Form looks like while running or if a component is able to talk to a database. So LINQPad does not suit my needs in those cases...

Upvotes: 9

Views: 4790

Answers (6)

Kellen Stuart
Kellen Stuart

Reputation: 8895

Actually believe it or not, PowerShell uses the .NET framework. You can call any built-in C# class from PowerShell.

Let's say you're trying to test the String.Substring method.

Open PowerShell

Then to call the function type this:

"some string".Substring(2,1) # returns 'm'

Or let's say you want to test a more complicated built-in class

foreach($line in [System.IO.File]::ReadLines("C:\path\to\file.txt"))
{
     $line
}

[System.IO.File] is the same thing as saying using System.IO.File;

The beautiful thing about PowerShell - it is C#'s console... and nobody knows it.

Upvotes: 0

sloth
sloth

Reputation: 101042

Have a look at the F# interpreter.

I use it regulary to test small code samples.

Let's say you have some code like this:

namespace ConsoleApplication5
{
    public class Test
    {
        public Int32 Sum(int a, int b)
        {
            return a + b;
        }
    }
    ...
}

Fire up the F# Interactive window, add a referece to your assemblies, and start debugging!

> #I @"C:\PathToYourProject\bin\debug";;
--> Added .... to library include path
> #r "ConsoleApplication5.exe";;
--> Referenced ...
> let t = ConsoleApplication5.Test();;
val t : ConsoleApplication5.Test
> t.Sum(9, 7);;
val it : int = 16
>

Upvotes: 2

Pol
Pol

Reputation: 5134

Another option for quick testing is Scratchpad.cs. Often it is better than creating command line projects just to try an idea.

Upvotes: 2

Kirk Woll
Kirk Woll

Reputation: 77546

Another option is to download the latest Roslyn community preview, and have at it with the C# Interactive Window. It's pre-release software, so it doesn't support the entire C# feature set, but it's getting pretty close.

Upvotes: 3

James World
James World

Reputation: 29776

Have a look at LINQPad. It's super for trying out snippets of code. Don't be put off by the name, it has support for C#/F# programs and expressions.

Upvotes: 2

Jake1164
Jake1164

Reputation: 12349

I use linqpad http://www.linqpad.net/ for quick testing of c# code.

Upvotes: 8

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