CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c#macosvisual-studio
Andrew
Andrew

Reputation: 1120

Software development on Mac OS (visual studio for mac)

I am considering options for a new computer and I am debating between a Windows and MacOS platform. I'm a windows (C#/.net) developer and I work primarily in visual studio, but I also work in other open source technologies in my personal time.

Microsoft has recently released Visual Studio for MacOS and I'm wondering if there are any significant limitations that would make .net core in visual studio on a Mac too difficult to be worthwhile.

I've heard of some early limitations such as not being able to publish to the filesystem and not being able to run multiple instances of Visual Studio, but I'm unsure if these have been resolved, or if they are on the VS for Mac roadmap.

I am trying not to make this an opinion-based question so I am looking for factual limitations or benefits. One of the benefits I see is being able to develop software and test on all three major platforms via virtualization (mac, windows, linux).

Upvotes: 1

Views: 1684

Answers (2)

hardkoded
hardkoded

Reputation: 21617

You will be able to do on Mac

  • Run and debug .NET Core projects.
  • Run multiple instances of Visual Studio 2019.
  • Run and debug Xamarin projects.

You won't be able to do on Mac

  • Run ASP.NET Full Framework projects.
  • Run Winforms projects (you might if you use Mono, but it won't be transparent).
  • Run IIS.
  • Visual Studio for Windows has more project templates, especially for Azure.

Benefits?

  • Running .NET projects if you have a Mac.
  • I think Xamarin development is better on Mac.

Personal conclusion

I use both environments every day. If you are a Mac user is great being able to run .NET Core apps without a VM. But, I consider VS on Window way more mature than VS for Mac.

Upvotes: 4

Oleg Ashchepkov
Oleg Ashchepkov

Reputation: 77

You may use JetBrains Rider on your Mac or run the Visual Studio for Windows under Parallels Tools.

Upvotes: 0

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