Instructions for installing and setting up Visual Studio 2022 on Windows 10

Visual Studio 2022 provides a text editor, profiler, GUI app interface, IntelliSense, and code completion. Programmers use this tool to develop a variety of desktop and mobile applications, websites and web services, and other computer programs. In addition, it aims to be accessible to software developers of different levels of experience.

If this sounds interesting to you, it can be difficult to set up on Windows. So, read on to learn how to install this IDE on Windows 10 while avoiding common pitfalls.

Why should you install Visual Studio 2022?

Visual Studio is a powerful IDE that supports multiple programming languages. In addition, it integrates database and cloud computing tools including Azure, SQL and SQLite. Visual Studio 2022 promises several upgrades over the 2019 version, including better performance and reduced memory requirements.

Other reasons to install Visual Studio include:

• Improved code completion.
• Better accessibility.
• A hot reload button for more productive development.
• C++20 support and build tools.
• More powerful debugger.
• A free community edition.

The Visual Studio 2022 Installation Guide

When you’re ready, here’s how to get started with Visual Studio 2022 on Windows 10.

1. Download the installer

Microsoft provides an installer on the Visual Studio website for installing the latest versions of their IDE. Navigate to the Visual Studio webpage and select the version you want to download. The installer is the same regardless of the version you choose.

2. Update and launch the installer

After downloading the installer, navigate to the download location on your computer and open the executable. Make sure you have a stable internet connection as the installer may perform a quick upgrade.

Once the installer has updated, it will launch the download menu. The menu shows the currently installed versions of Visual Studio and the versions available for download.

3. Select the Visual Studio version to install

The installer provides several versions of Visual Studio for download. Therefore, you can download Enterprise, Professional, and Community editions of Visual Studio 2017, 2019, and 2022. We will focus on the 2022 version in this article. However, the process is largely similar for all versions.

Click on that To install button in the section for the Visual Studio 2022 edition of your choice and wait for the installer to load the installation menu. You can also import or export a configuration for components and workloads using More Button. Nevertheless, we ignore this button and make a new selection of components for ourselves.

4. Add components to the base installation

Visual Studio is a general purpose IDE that supports more than 36 programming languages. In addition, it offers several APIs, SDKs and frameworks from Microsoft.

As a result, the full installation can become bloated and take up unnecessary space on your computer memory. To prevent this, the installer allows you to choose which features you want to add to the core editor.

Visual Studio provides hundreds of individual components to install. However, selecting them can quickly become unwieldy and tedious. Fortunately, the installer groups these components into workloads with unique names and descriptions. Some of the more notable workloads include:

• .NET Desktop Development: For application development in C#, F# and Visual Basic. It includes a GUI interface for building Windows Forms applications and the .NET Profiler.
• Game development with Unity: For C# programming on the Unity game engine. It contains the Unity Hub installer.
• Azure development: Installs all components required for the Azure cloud computing service.
• Desktop development with C++: For building powerful cross-platform desktop apps using the C++ programming language. It includes MSVC v143 build tools and C++ profiling tools.
• Development of Visual Studio extensions: Provides all the tools needed to create add-ons, plugins, and extensions for the Visual Studio 2022 IDE.

In addition to components, you can also add language packs such as Spanish, Chinese or Turkish. Finally, you can choose the install locations for Visual Studio 2022. We recommend leaving it as the default unless you want to install it on a separate storage device.

5. Install the selected components

After selecting your desired components, click on the To install button in the lower right corner of the menu. You can also view how much disk space the installation would take up in this section.

In addition, you can choose one of two installation configurations. Install during download is recommended for fast internet connections. Alternatively, you should opt for Download everything, then install if you have a slower internet connection.

The Visual Studio 2022 post-installation setup

The installation for Visual Studio 2022 can take a few minutes to an hour, depending on your internet connection. Once installed, you can open the IDE by searching for it in your Windows search bar.

Once opened, you can customize the editor’s layout and appearance to your liking. Navigate to outlook at the top of the editor to discover the different windows available to you.

One of the most important windows is View > Solution Explorer, showing your files and project hierarchy. Most programmers prefer to dock this window in the left part of the editor.

Another important window is View > Output showing your build results. You can dock this window in the lower part of the editor.

Also, you can change the editor theme by navigating to Tools > Theme and select your favorite topic. You can also change the font and size by navigating to Tools > Options > Environment > Fonts and Colors and adjust the settings to your liking.

The best Visual Studio extensions for beginners

Your Visual Studio experience is not complete without several extensions to support your programming. These extensions add various functionalities to the IDE, including code analysis, intellisense, and aesthetically pleasing themes.

You can install extensions in Visual Studio by navigating to Extensions > Manage Extensions Tab and search them in the search bar. Some of the best Visual Studio 2022 extensions you can get as a beginner programmer are:

• resharpener: This code analysis and refactoring extension from JetBrains significantly improves the productivity of C# and C++ programmers. It also performs the code generation, formatting and cleanup.
• Visual Studio Spell Checker: This extension checks the spelling of words in comments, string literals, variable names, and plaintext. It provides helpful fixes for misspelled words without hindering the programmer.
• Trailing Whitespace Visualizer: This extension highlights trailing spaces in your code and deletes them with a simple keyboard shortcut.
• visual support: Unreal Engine programmers love this extension for refactoring, code analysis, and intellisense. It increases the functionalities of Visual Studio and makes the IDE even better for programmers.
• Code Maid: This free extension simplifies code files for all languages ​​that Visual Studio supports. It cleans up unused white space, organizes imports, and reorganizes file layouts to suit static analysis tools.

Programming in Visual Studio

Finally, you’ve installed Visual Studio on your Windows computer and are dying to try it out. Creating a Windows Form application is one of the best beginner projects to try in Visual Studio.

Luckily, Visual Studio 2022 provides all the tools you need for this project. This project also provides an excellent opportunity to learn C# programming.

If you think that a full-fledged IDE is too much for your purposes, you can try text editors for Windows users. A popular option is Visual Studio Code, a lightweight but powerful editor. It can also hook into Visual Studio’s tools for building and debugging functions.

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