Tutorial: Debug a .NET console application using Visual Studio Code

Start Visual Studio Code.

Open the folder of the project that you created in Create a .NET console application using Visual Studio Code.

Open the Program.cs file.

Set a breakpoint on the line that displays the name, date, and time, by clicking in the left margin of the code window. The left margin is to the left of the line numbers. Other ways to set a breakpoint are by pressing F9 or choosing Run > Toggle Breakpoint from the menu while the line of code is selected.

Visual Studio Code indicates the line on which the breakpoint is set by displaying a red dot in the left margin.

The project folder contains a .vscode folder. Open the launch.json file that's in the .vscode folder.

In launch.json, change the console setting from internalConsole to integratedTerminal:

"console": "integratedTerminal",

Save your changes.

Open the Debug view by selecting the Debugging icon on the left side menu.

Select the green arrow at the top of the pane, next to .NET Core Launch (console). Other ways to start the program in debugging mode are by pressing F5 or choosing Run > Start Debugging from the menu.

Select the Terminal tab to see the "What is your name?" prompt that the program displays before waiting for a response.

Enter a string in the Terminal window in response to the prompt for a name, and then press Enter.

Program execution stops when it reaches the breakpoint and before the Console.WriteLine method runs. The Locals section of the Variables window displays the values of variables that are defined in the currently running method.

Select the Debug Console tab.

Enter name = "Gracie" at the prompt at the bottom of the Debug Console window and press the Enter key.

Enter currentDate = DateTime.Parse("2019-11-16T17:25:00Z").ToUniversalTime() at the bottom of the Debug Console window and press the Enter key.

The Variables window displays the new values of the name and currentDate variables.

Continue program execution by selecting the Continue button in the toolbar. Another way to continue is by pressing F5.

Select the Terminal tab again.

The values displayed in the console window correspond to the changes you made in the Debug Console.

Press any key to exit the application and stop debugging.

Right-click (Ctrl-click on macOS) on the red dot that represents the breakpoint. In the context menu, select Edit Breakpoint to open a dialog that lets you enter a conditional expression.

Select Expression in the drop-down, enter the following conditional expression, and press Enter.

String.IsNullOrEmpty(name)

Each time the breakpoint is hit, the debugger calls the String.IsNullOrEmpty(name) method, and it breaks on this line only if the method call returns true.

Instead of a conditional expression, you can specify a hit count, which interrupts program execution before a statement is run a specified number of times. Another option is to specify a filter condition, which interrupts program execution based on such attributes as a thread identifier, process name, or thread name.

Start the program with debugging by pressing F5.

In the Terminal tab, press the Enter key when prompted to enter your name.

Because the condition you specified (name is either null or String.Empty) has been satisfied, program execution stops when it reaches the breakpoint and before the Console.WriteLine method runs.

The Variables window shows that the value of the name variable is "", or String.Empty.

Confirm the value is an empty string by entering the following statement at the Debug Console prompt and pressing Enter. The result is true.

name == String.Empty

Select the Continue button on the toolbar to continue program execution.

Select the Terminal tab, and press any key to exit the program and stop debugging.

Clear the breakpoint by clicking on the dot in the left margin of the code window. Other ways to clear a breakpoint are by pressing F9 or choosing Run > Toggle Breakpoint from the menu while the line of code is selected.

If you get a warning that the breakpoint condition will be lost, select Remove Breakpoint.

Set a breakpoint on the opening curly brace of the Main method.

Press F5 to start debugging.

Visual Studio Code highlights the breakpoint line.

At this point, the Variables window shows that the args array is empty, and name and currentDate have default values.

Select Run > Step Into or press F11.

Visual Studio Code highlights the next line.

Select Run > Step Into or press F11.

Visual Studio Code runs the Console.WriteLine for the name prompt and highlights the next line of execution. The next line is the Console.ReadLine for the name. The Variables window is unchanged, and the Terminal tab shows the "What is your name?" prompt.

Select Run > Step Into or press F11.

Visual Studio highlights the name variable assignment. The Variables window shows that name is still null.

Respond to the prompt by entering a string in the Terminal tab and pressing Enter.

The Terminal tab might not display the string you enter while you're entering it, but the Console.ReadLine method will capture your input.

Select Run > Step Into or press F11.

Visual Studio Code highlights the currentDate variable assignment. The Variables window shows the value returned by the call to the Console.ReadLine method. The Terminal tab displays the string you entered at the prompt.

Select Run > Step Into or press F11.

The Variables window shows the value of the currentDate variable after the assignment from the DateTime.Now property.

Select Run > Step Into or press F11.

Visual Studio Code calls the Console.WriteLine(String, Object, Object) method. The console window displays the formatted string.

Select Run > Step Out or press Shift+F11.

Select the Terminal tab.

The terminal displays "Press any key to exit..."

Press any key to exit the program.

Start Visual Studio Code.

Open the folder of the project that you created in Create a .NET console application using Visual Studio Code.

Open the Program.cs file.

Set a breakpoint on the line that displays the name, date, and time, by clicking in the left margin of the code window. The left margin is to the left of the line numbers. Other ways to set a breakpoint are by pressing F9 or choosing Run > Toggle Breakpoint from the menu while the line of code is selected.

Visual Studio Code indicates the line on which the breakpoint is set by displaying a red dot in the left margin.

The project folder contains a .vscode folder. Open the launch.json file that's in the .vscode folder.

In launch.json, change the console setting from internalConsole to integratedTerminal:

"console": "integratedTerminal",

Save your changes.

Open the Debug view by selecting the Debugging icon on the left side menu.

Select the green arrow at the top of the pane, next to .NET Core Launch (console). Other ways to start the program in debugging mode are by pressing F5 or choosing Run > Start Debugging from the menu.

Select the Terminal tab to see the "What is your name?" prompt that the program displays before waiting for a response.

Enter a string in the Terminal window in response to the prompt for a name, and then press Enter.

Program execution stops when it reaches the breakpoint and before the Console.WriteLine method runs. The Locals section of the Variables window displays the values of variables that are defined in the currently running method.

Select the Debug Console tab.

Enter name = "Gracie" at the prompt at the bottom of the Debug Console window and press the Enter key.

Enter currentDate = DateTime.Parse("2019-11-16T17:25:00Z").ToUniversalTime() at the bottom of the Debug Console window and press the Enter key.

The Variables window displays the new values of the name and currentDate variables.

Continue program execution by selecting the Continue button in the toolbar. Another way to continue is by pressing F5.

Select the Terminal tab again.

The values displayed in the console window correspond to the changes you made in the Debug Console.

Press any key to exit the application and stop debugging.

Right-click (Ctrl-click on macOS) on the red dot that represents the breakpoint. In the context menu, select Edit Breakpoint to open a dialog that lets you enter a conditional expression.

Select Expression in the drop-down, enter the following conditional expression, and press Enter.

String.IsNullOrEmpty(name)

Each time the breakpoint is hit, the debugger calls the String.IsNullOrEmpty(name) method, and it breaks on this line only if the method call returns true.

Instead of a conditional expression, you can specify a hit count, which interrupts program execution before a statement is run a specified number of times. Another option is to specify a filter condition, which interrupts program execution based on such attributes as a thread identifier, process name, or thread name.

Start the program with debugging by pressing F5.

In the Terminal tab, press the Enter key when prompted to enter your name.

Because the condition you specified (name is either null or String.Empty) has been satisfied, program execution stops when it reaches the breakpoint and before the Console.WriteLine method runs.

The Variables window shows that the value of the name variable is "", or String.Empty.

Confirm the value is an empty string by entering the following statement at the Debug Console prompt and pressing Enter. The result is true.

name == String.Empty

Select the Continue button on the toolbar to continue program execution.

Select the Terminal tab, and press any key to exit the program and stop debugging.

Clear the breakpoint by clicking on the dot in the left margin of the code window. Other ways to clear a breakpoint are by pressing F9 or choosing Run > Toggle Breakpoint from the menu while the line of code is selected.

If you get a warning that the breakpoint condition will be lost, select Remove Breakpoint.

Set a breakpoint on the opening curly brace of the Main method.

Press F5 to start debugging.

Visual Studio Code highlights the breakpoint line.

At this point, the Variables window shows that the args array is empty, and name and currentDate have default values.

Select Run > Step Into or press F11.

Visual Studio Code highlights the next line.

Select Run > Step Into or press F11.

Visual Studio Code runs the Console.WriteLine for the name prompt and highlights the next line of execution. The next line is the Console.ReadLine for the name. The Variables window is unchanged, and the Terminal tab shows the "What is your name?" prompt.

Select Run > Step Into or press F11.

Visual Studio highlights the name variable assignment. The Variables window shows that name is still null.

Respond to the prompt by entering a string in the Terminal tab and pressing Enter.

The Terminal tab might not display the string you enter while you're entering it, but the Console.ReadLine method will capture your input.

Select Run > Step Into or press F11.

Visual Studio Code highlights the currentDate variable assignment. The Variables window shows the value returned by the call to the Console.ReadLine method. The Terminal tab displays the string you entered at the prompt.

Select Run > Step Into or press F11.

The Variables window shows the value of the currentDate variable after the assignment from the DateTime.Now property.

Select Run > Step Into or press F11.

Visual Studio Code calls the Console.WriteLine(String, Object, Object) method. The console window displays the formatted string.

Select Run > Step Out or press Shift+F11.

Select the Terminal tab.

The terminal displays "Press any key to exit..."

Press any key to exit the program.

Start Visual Studio Code.

Open the folder of the project that you created in Create a .NET console application using Visual Studio Code.

Open the Program.cs file.

Set a breakpoint on the line that displays the name, date, and time, by clicking in the left margin of the code window. The left margin is to the left of the line numbers. Other ways to set a breakpoint are by pressing F9 or choosing Run > Toggle Breakpoint from the menu while the line of code is selected.

Visual Studio Code indicates the line on which the breakpoint is set by displaying a red dot in the left margin.

Open .vscode/launch.json.

Change the console setting from internalConsole to integratedTerminal:

"console": "integratedTerminal",

Save your changes.

Open the Debug view by selecting the Debugging icon on the left side menu.

Select the green arrow at the top of the pane, next to .NET Core Launch (console). Other ways to start the program in debugging mode are by pressing F5 or choosing Run > Start Debugging from the menu.

Select the Terminal tab to see the "What is your name?" prompt that the program displays before waiting for a response.

Enter a string in the Terminal window in response to the prompt for a name, and then press Enter.

Program execution stops when it reaches the breakpoint and before the Console.WriteLine method runs. The Locals section of the Variables window displays the values of variables that are defined in the currently running method.

Select the Debug Console tab.

Enter name = "Gracie" at the prompt at the bottom of the Debug Console window and press the Enter key.

Enter currentDate = DateTime.Parse("2019-11-16T17:25:00Z").ToUniversalTime() at the bottom of the Debug Console window and press the Enter key.

The Variables window displays the new values of the name and currentDate variables.

Continue program execution by selecting the Continue button in the toolbar. Another way to continue is by pressing F5.

Select the Terminal tab again.

The values displayed in the console window correspond to the changes you made in the Debug Console.

Press any key to exit the application and stop debugging.

Right-click (Ctrl-click on macOS) on the red dot that represents the breakpoint. In the context menu, select Edit Breakpoint to open a dialog that lets you enter a conditional expression.

Select Expression in the drop-down, enter the following conditional expression, and press Enter.

String.IsNullOrEmpty(name)

Each time the breakpoint is hit, the debugger calls the String.IsNullOrEmpty(name) method, and it breaks on this line only if the method call returns true.

Instead of a conditional expression, you can specify a hit count, which interrupts program execution before a statement is run a specified number of times. Another option is to specify a filter condition, which interrupts program execution based on such attributes as a thread identifier, process name, or thread name.

Start the program with debugging by pressing F5.

In the Terminal tab, press the Enter key when prompted to enter your name.

Because the condition you specified (name is either null or String.Empty) has been satisfied, program execution stops when it reaches the breakpoint and before the Console.WriteLine method runs.

The Variables window shows that the value of the name variable is "", or String.Empty.

Confirm the value is an empty string by entering the following statement at the Debug Console prompt and pressing Enter. The result is true.

name == String.Empty

Select the Continue button on the toolbar to continue program execution.

Select the Terminal tab, and press any key to exit the program and stop debugging.

Clear the breakpoint by clicking on the dot in the left margin of the code window. Other ways to clear a breakpoint are by pressing F9 or choosing Run > Toggle Breakpoint from the menu while the line of code is selected.

If you get a warning that the breakpoint condition will be lost, select Remove Breakpoint.

Set a breakpoint on the opening curly brace of the Main method.

Press F5 to start debugging.

Visual Studio Code highlights the breakpoint line.

At this point, the Variables window shows that the args array is empty, and name and currentDate have default values.

Select Run > Step Into or press F11.

Visual Studio Code highlights the next line.

Select Run > Step Into or press F11.

Visual Studio Code runs the Console.WriteLine for the name prompt and highlights the next line of execution. The next line is the Console.ReadLine for the name. The Variables window is unchanged, and the Terminal tab shows the "What is your name?" prompt.

Select Run > Step Into or press F11.

Visual Studio highlights the name variable assignment. The Variables window is cleared.

Respond to the prompt by entering a string in the Terminal tab and pressing Enter.

The Terminal tab might not display the string you enter while you're entering it, but the Console.ReadLine method will capture your input.

The Variables window shows the value returned by the call to the Console.ReadLine method.

Select Run > Step Into or press F11.

Visual Studio Code highlights the currentDate variable assignment. The Terminal tab displays the string you entered at the prompt.

Select Run > Step Into or press F11.

The Variables window shows the value of the currentDate variable after the assignment from the DateTime.Now property.

Select Run > Step Into or press F11.

Visual Studio Code calls the Console.WriteLine(String, Object, Object) method. The console window displays the formatted string.

Select Run > Step Out or press Shift+F11.

Select the Terminal tab.

The terminal displays "Press any key to exit..."

Press any key to exit the program.