CODEWITHSUNDEEP
visual-studio
dekron
dekron

Reputation: 45

Visual Studio Solutions and Projects

I have looked for similar questions, but could find none other than the difference between solutions and projects. Mine is on the same level, I suppose, but is slightly different.

I'm a previous Java developer thrust into C# recently and I am the sole individual charged with setting up source control, project standards, etc. etc. and this is my first go with Visual Studio (using 2010 Pro).

I understand a solution is a "container" for related projects, but I am unsure the best practices of adding projects to a solution which are related, but are of a different type.

For example, would I place a web project in the same solution with a desktop application or mobile app if they are related (rather near identical) in function? They are basically the same app, but in different formats. They may use the same classes (for a contrived example, a Person class).

To me, they seem obviously related, but are different applications, so it would seem they should be in different solutions.

I appreciate any feedback offered.

Thanks in advance.

Upvotes: 4

Views: 867

Answers (5)

antlersoft
antlersoft

Reputation: 14751

You can throw everything in one solution. This is convenient if you often have to debug the library and application code together, but if the solution has many projects it can become unwieldy.

One approach is to treat the solution as 'that which will be installed as a unit.' Then your common library will go in one solution, and your mobile and desktop apps in their own solutions. This keeps solutions smaller, but it can be inconvenient when you are developing everything together-- so it works best when the library is very stable.

Upvotes: 0

meller25
meller25

Reputation: 11

I would place them in the same solution. You can create different configurations to build each application or build both of them at the same time. This allows you to change the class and verify changes made to the class will work for both applications.

Also if you start to see functionality start to duplicate across applications it is easier to create new classes and project that can apply to both applications.

Upvotes: 0

Maciej
Maciej

Reputation: 7971

Those apps should be in one solution, expecialy if they share functionality, common projects etc. Quite good approach is to group projects within a solution using solution folders, for example "Common", "Web", "Mobile", "Setup" etc. This way you can have logical groups inside solution.

Upvotes: 1

Bradley Mountford
Bradley Mountford

Reputation: 8283

There are no rules for this so there is no right or wrong answer. It all comes down to how you want to organize your code. We commonly have web apps and console apps in the same solution because they are functionally tied together and share code so the type of project really does not matter.

Upvotes: 1

Martin Wiboe
Martin Wiboe

Reputation: 2119

I would place them in the same solution, since this makes it easier to have a common class library as one project in that solution.

Upvotes: 1

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