Installation and configuration of the IDE
While reading the book, you will see many examples presenting data structures and algorithms, together with detailed descriptions. The most important parts of the code will be shown directly in the book. Moreover, complete source code will be available to download. Of course, you can only read the code from the book, but it is strongly recommended to write such code on your own, and then launch and debug the program to understand how various data structures and algorithms operate.
As already mentioned, the examples shown in the book will be prepared in the C# language. To keep things simple, the console-based applications will be created, but such data structures could be used in other kinds of solutions as well.
The example projects will be created in Microsoft Visual Studio 2017 Community. This Integrated Development Environment (IDE) is a comprehensive solution for developing various kinds of projects. To download, install, and configure it, you should:
- Open the website https://www.visualstudio.com/downloads/ and choose the
Free downloadoption from theVisual Studio Community 2017section just below theVisual Studio Downloadsheader. The download process of the installer should begin automatically. - Run the downloaded file and follow the instructions to start the installation. When the screen presenting possible options is shown, choose the
.NET desktop developmentoption, as shown in the following screenshot. Then, clickInstall. The installation could take some time, but its progress could be observed using theAcquiringandApplyingprogress bars.
- When the message
Installation succeeded!is shown, click on theLaunchbutton to start the IDE. You will be asked to sign in with the Microsoft account. Then, you should choose suitableDevelopment Settings(such asVisual C#) in theStart with a familiar environmentsection. Moreover, you should choose the color theme fromBlue,Blue (Extra Contrast),Dark, andLight. At the end, click on theStart Visual Studiobutton.
