I want to write a new templating language, and I want Visual Studio to "support" it. What I need to know is:
How do I parse my new language?
Given some code in my new template language, how do I translate it into HTML? Right now I'm using regular expressions to parse it token by token, but I don't think this is going to scale very well as the language gets more complicated, and there's no error checking. I've heard of ANTLR but never used it. Would that be the right tool for this job, or is there perhaps something simpler? Ideally I'd like to send any syntax errors to the error window with as much information as possible (line #, type of error) like other languages do.
How do I create a new file type for Visual Studio?
How do I get syntax highlighting?
Can I use the same parser I created in step 1, or is this something entirely different?
How do I get Intellisense?
I'd prefer to write my parser in C#.
I would take a look at another language that has already done the legwork of integrating with Visual Studio. A great example is Boo. The language and Visual Studio integration are open source. So you can take a look at exactly what they had to do.
Boo Language: https://github.com/boo/boo-lang
Boo Syntax Highlighting for VS2010 (VSX add-in): http://vs2010boo.codeplex.com/
Boo Language Studio (syntax highlighting for VS2008): http://boolangstudio.codeplex.com/
The Boo Syntax Highlighting for VS2010 includes some recommended links on its homepage, which I'll copy for easy reference:
Nice article about "classification" (syntax highligting) in VS 2010: http://dotneteers.net/blogs/divedeeper/archive/2008/11/04/LearnVSXNowPart38.aspx
Examples for VSX add-ins: http://blogs.msdn.com/vsxteam/archive/2009/06/17/new-editor-samples-for-visual-studio-2010-beta-1.aspx
Regarding the Visual Studio aspects, what you need is a "language service", which is the entity that handles colorizing, intellisense, etc. for a given file extension/type.
For an intro, see this article
And for a code sample see here
Regarding parsing, there are lots of technologies, and I won't offer an opinion/advice.
Beware, there is a fair amount of work involved, although in my opinion it is much more straightforward in VS2010 than in previous versions of Visual Studio to provide this kind of extension.
See also
Visual Studio 2010 Extensibility, MPF and language services
I wrote a VS Language Service using this article as my basis:
http://www.codeproject.com/KB/recipes/VSLanguageService.aspx
It wasn't too bad if you have a basic handle on Grammars.
There is a sample in the VS SDK that shows most of the features you are looking for.
I was using VS with own language and desperately needed a syntax highlight. I built mine based on this tutorial: https://mattduffield.wordpress.com/2012/07/31/writing-a-brightscript-syntax-highlight-extension-for-visual-studio-2010/
I know the tutorial is in VS2010. I made mine in VS2012 with no or very small hiccups. (also worked in VS2013) Recently I changed to VS2015 and the solution can be edited, built with no problem.
I found this very useful collection of recent samples for Visual Studio 2013 SDK:
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/vsx/archive/2014/05/30/vs-2013-sdk-samples-released.aspx
It also contains the recent version of the OokLanguage which sounds promising.
We used ANTLR 4 to parse our language which works like a charm and allows direct interaction with C# code. Can totally recommend it.
As mentioned in other answers, the most interesting code sample is the Ook language extension for the latest version of Visual Studio (2017 at the time of writing).
For VS 2015 see the sample in the VS2015 branch.
In order to install the SDK for 2015 or later, you need to rerun the VS setup. In 2015 it's called "Visual Studio Extensibility Tools Update 3".
Related
I've a bit of confusion about roslyn.
What I have done:
I've installed vs 2015 community edition and download in extensibilty > download compiler platform sdk.
So I created a simple console application: hello world example.
Well now I'm expect to choise the c# compiler between the vs2015 default one and roslyn..., but I've not found such option.
So my first question is: how to select version of c# compiler?
Second I've downloaded master-roslyn and I build, then I found csc.exe, well the odd things is that if I lauch the exe
I get c# compiler version 42.42.42.42. ???? Right?
Then I've follow some tutorials, but all purpose me:
to load a source from text file or string vars and analyze or change syntax tree, then compile to var.
Well at this point I'm confused... So:
What is roslyn exactly? A meta compiler? This mean that I can change my code at runtime just like Reflection?
Second: how can compile with vs2015 with default csc or choose roslyn?
third: If I build a custom version of roslyn How can I compile my source using Vs2015 ?
Which know if csc.exe is roslyn? No help or command line print the codename.
Thanks
So it looks like you've got a few questions:
What is Roslyn?
Roslyn is the new default compiler inside of Visual Studio 2015. If you're building and running applications within Visual Studio 2015, they're being compiled with the Roslyn compiler. You'll get to take advantage of all the new C# 6 features that are available only within the new compiler.
If you're using VS2015, Roslyn has replaced the old compiler entirely and as far as I know you can't use the old compiler within VS 2015.
Roslyn is also a platform that allows you to build programs that can modify, interpret and understand other programs. It's not really meant to let you write code that modifies itself (although that's probably possible to a degree).
The common use cases for Roslyn are:
Building Code Analyzers that provide errors and warnings within Visual Studio.
Building extensions for Visual Studio that understand source code.
Building other tools that understand or run source code. Example: ScriptCS - Scripting with C# code.
In order to use Roslyn for these purposes, you pull down the Microsoft.CodeAnalysis packages from NuGet. You can use these packages to parse code, analyze syntax trees, analyze symbols or compile code and emit IL.
If you're interested in learning more about Roslyn, I've started a series called Learn Roslyn Now that you might be interested in.
Can I replace the compiler?
Yes you can, but I'm not convinced this is a great idea outside of testing changes you want to contribute back to Roslyn. You can pull down Roslyn from GitHub and follow these instructions to build and run Roslyn from within Visual Studio.
If you follow those instructions, you'll be able to run the Roslyn project with F5. It will start a new instance of Visual Studio that's using your customized compiler. This is how people outside of Microsoft will contribute features to the compiler from now on. (Previously you couldn't deploy your custom compiler to Visual Studio but they fixed that in Visual Studio Update 1).
Roslyn is two things:
An API that lets you see "compiler things" like syntax trees and symbols.
A new csc.exe that is implemented atop #1.
If you want to make changes to the compiler and use that to build, take a look at these instructions if you haven't already. There's a few different ways you can make your own version of csc.exe and then use that to build something. But there's no "choice" dialog like you're looking for.
Roslyn is the default compiler of Visual Studio 2015. So, if you install VS2015 you´re already using Roslyn.
Roslyn is a codename for .NET Compiler Platform, and it provides open-source C# and Visual Basic compilers. The project is available on github.
Iam used to Eclipse and Java development, but because of my job I need to start coding in C#. I find it a bit annoying that visual studio doesn't autocomplete my blocks. For instance when I write a new function, class or statement am used to that the IDE autocompletes my blocks. So when I type:
private function sendData(String msg, String email) {
and hit enter the closing bracket appears automatically, is there any settings that enables this function in Microsoft visual C# 2010 express ?
This isn't possible with Express versions, since you can't install extensions. You'll need to use Professional or higher and use third party extensions. Some simple free ones will do this (such as Productivity Power Tools), as does the commercial product ReSharper, which does much more more. The later likely would make Visual Studio have other features that you're probably used to comming form Eclipse, such as more refactoring support.
I'm almost certain that the Productivity Power Tools extension will give you this feature. You can find it here:
http://visualstudiogallery.msdn.microsoft.com/d0d33361-18e2-46c0-8ff2-4adea1e34fef
It's really a great add-on and it will give you a lot more control over options like this.
There is no functionality like this already built-in in Visual Studio, but you can install a plugin like Brace Completer to add the functionality .
No, you can't do it by default in Visual Studio. Visit Microsoft Connect to submit a feature request.
I'm looking to find something along the lines of Checkstyle for Visual Studio. I've recently started a new gig doing .NET work and realized that coding standards here are a bit lacking. While I'm still a young guy and far from the most experienced developer I'm trying to lead by example and get things going in the right direction.
I loved the ability to use Checkstyle with Eclipse and examine code before reviews so I'd like to do the same thing with Visual Studio. Anyone have any good suggestions?
Another thing I'd be somewhat interested in is a plug-in for SVN that disallows check-in until the main coding standards are met. I do not want people checking in busted code that's going to wind up in a code review.
Any suggestions at this point would be great.
Have you tried StyleCop?
http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/sourceanalysis
Note: This's been moved to https://github.com/StyleCop
Take a look at resharper.
We use StyleCop to enforce our coding standards. It is free and integrates nicely with Visual Studio
What you're looking for is called Static Code Analysis.
FxCop is one option. I think Resharper can check this kind of thing as well.
Here are some of the great tools you can use
FxCop is a code analysis tool that checks .NET managed code assemblies for conformance to the Microsoft .NET Framework Design Guidelines
ReSharper is a refactoring and productivity plugin by JetBrains that extends native functionality of Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003, 2005 and 2008.
StyleCop is a free static code analysis tool from Microsoft that checks C# code for conformance to StyleCop's recommended coding styles and a subset of Microsoft's .NET Framework Design Guidelines
ref: http://blogs.msdn.com/fxcop/
Have you had a chance to review StyleCop
If you are looking for a long term supported version, I would recommend to look to Roselyn analyzers. They are the native support for Static Code Analysis with pre-configured rules, custom configs, and allow extensions.
According to the docs: “.NET compiler platform (Roslyn) analyzers inspect your C# or Visual Basic code for code quality and style issues.”
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/fundamentals/code-analysis/overview
During the last 10 minutes of Ander's talk The Future of C# he demonstrates a really cool C# Read-Eval-Print loop which would be a tremendous help in learning the language.
Several .NET4 related downloads are already available: Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4.0 CTP, Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4 Training Kit. Do you know what happened to this REPL? Is it somewhere hidden among examples?
I know about mono repl. Please, no alternative solutions.
The REPL demo was part of "what might happen next", i.e. after 4.0; in .NET 5.0 or something similar.
This is not 4.0 functionality, and never has been.
It's probably worth mentioning that the Mono project already does have a C# REPL which i tend to use for those small checks you do now and then. Take a look. Also, if I'm testing an idea which I'm uncomfortable Mono is going to handle to well and it's not worth starting a new test project then Snippet Compiler always comes in handy.
The Immediate window (Debug>Windows>Immediate Ctrl+D, I ) is fairly good replacement that's built in. It does require you start the IDE and put a breakpoint on something.
It does give you the context of where you would like to do experimentation.
Marc's answer is entirely correct, the possibility of a repl or script like c# has been discussed by Eric Lippert in two blog posts:
Why doesn't c# implement top level methods
It already is a scripting language
I would add that, the 2010 CTP does contain an f# repl (not much use for c# but if you were interested in some aspect of the BCL or CLR then it might be sufficient for your needs)
I find that LINQPad makes up for the lack of a REPL in many cases. It would be nice to get it integrated into Visual studio so you could interact with your existing code base more easily though.
Take a look at this C# REPL Script Environment which is a great way to quickly run C# script (and learn how to code)
I just published a VisualStudio Extension that provides a REPL environment inside VisualStudio (namely a C# REPL Environment with a Fluent API for .NET and VisualStudio)
In addition to being able to write and execute quick C# snippets (in a REPL environment), you can program VisualStudio IDE in real time!
You can install it using VisualStudio's Extension Manager (search for C# REPL) or via the download link at the VisualStudio Gallery page: VisualStudio C# REPL
The VisualStudio C# REPL page also contains more details and code samples.
There is also an Reddit thread on this extension (which contains more code samples).
Let me know what you think of it
Command-line REPL
To play with the C# REPL outside of Visual Studio, open the Developer Command Prompt for VS2015 and type the command csi to begin your interactive session. Here is a list of arguments that can be passed to csi.
Note: csi stands for "CSharp Interactive"
You can also open an interactive window directly from Visual Studio by navigating to View > Other Windows > C# Interactive.
Check out the Roslyn Wiki on the C# Interactive Window.
I found http://kamimucode.com/Home.aspx/C-sharp-REPL/1 . Which seems to be pretty good and I believe also exposes an API to evaluate expressions dynamically
To update on this old question c# REPL is now available as part of Visual studio IDE (starting VS 2015 update 1).
Introducing the Visual Studio 'C# REPL'
From time to time I want to try out some .NET API instead of wondering about C# language syntax. (There are far more subtleties in API than in the language itself.) If you are only looking for REPL for .NET, good old PowerShell is always with you.
C#:
using System;
using System.Text;
Convert.ToBase64String(Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes("Overflow"));
PowerShell:
[Convert]::ToBase64String([Text.Encoding]::UTF8.GetBytes("Overflow"))
So I'm now about to look at getting visual studio integration working for our port of the Less ruby library: www.dotlesscss.com. This is basically a CSS preprocessor that extends on the CSS language to give you variables, mixins, nested rules etc...
What we want is to have our .Less file type take advantage of VS's intelligence and syntax highlighting. Now as the Less language is pretty much CSS with a few extra niceties, it would seem sensible to extend on the existing VS support for CSS files.
We have started to look at VS SDK and managed to get as far as colouring all text blue (its a start). But before we start looking at the Lexer impl I really want to know if we can somehow extend whats already been done with CSS support.
Any pointers in the right direction would be appreciated.
Chris.
Regardless of whether you choose 2005, 2008, or 2010, you'll face the same choice - you can pick one or the other but in no way can pick both.
Set .less files to open in Visual Studio's CSS editor - as is.
Write a new language service for Visual Studio from the ground up, with a syntax highlighter and IntelliSense, for your language.
If you choose #2, then you'll be writing what's called a language service for Visual Studio, and there are lots of resources here and on the web (my blog has some). Be warned it's a non-trivial task once you get past simple syntax highlighting.
This is straightforward in Visual Studio 2010, which is now in beta 2. The text editor is completely new and is designed to support this scenario. If you dig into the SDK you'll find a number of related examples.
For VS 2008 and earlier, you can't extend an existing editor. You have to provide a completely new editor that happens to duplicate all the functionality of the existing editor.