# Development Guide

This page contains steps to build and run the .NET MAUI repository from source. If you are looking to build apps with .NET MAUI please head over to the links in the [README](https://github.com/dotnet/maui/blob/main/README.md) to get started.

## Initial setup
   ### Windows
   - Install VS 17.10 or newer
      - Follow [these steps](https://learn.microsoft.com/dotnet/maui/get-started/installation?tabs=vswin) to include MAUI
   - If building iOS with pair to Mac: Install current stable Xcode on your Mac. Install from the [App Store](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/xcode/id497799835?mt=12) or [Apple Developer portal](https://developer.apple.com/download/more/?name=Xcode)
   - If you're missing any of the Android SDKs, Visual Studio should prompt you to install them. If it doesn't prompt you then use the [Android SDK Manager](https://learn.microsoft.com/xamarin/android/get-started/installation/android-sdk) to install the necessary SDKs.
   - Install [Open JDK 17](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/java/openjdk/download#openjdk-17)

   ### Mac
   - Install [VSCode](https://code.visualstudio.com/download)
   - Follow the steps for installing the .NET MAUI Dev Kit for VS Code: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=ms-dotnettools.dotnet-maui
      
## Building the Build Tasks
Before opening the solution in Visual Studio / VS Code you **MUST** build the build tasks.

1. Open a command prompt/terminal/shell window
1. Navigate to the location of your cloned `dotnet/maui` repo, for example:
     ```shell
     cd \repos\maui
     ```
1. Run these commands:
    ```dotnetcli
    dotnet tool restore
    dotnet build ./Microsoft.Maui.BuildTasks.slnf
    ```

## Windows
Open the `Microsoft.Maui-windows.slnf` file in Visual Studio from the root of the repo.

## Mac

Open the root folder of the repository in VS Code.

*NOTE*: IntelliSense takes a decent amount of time to fully process your solution. It will eventually work through all the necessary tasks. If you are having IntelliSense issues, usually unloading/reloading the `maui.core` and `maui.controls` projects will resolve. 

## What branch should I use?

As a general rule:
- [main](https://github.com/dotnet/maui/tree/main)

Use ‘main’ for bug fixes that don’t require API changes. For new features and changes to public APIs, you must use the branch of the next .NET version.

- [net9.0](https://github.com/dotnet/maui/tree/net9.0)

## Sample projects

### Samples
 ```
├── Controls 
│   ├── samples
│   │   ├── Maui.Controls.Sample
│   │   ├── Maui.Controls.Sample.Sandbox
├── Essentials 
│   ├── samples
│   │   ├── Essentials.Sample
├── BlazorWebView 
│   ├── samples
│   │   ├── BlazorWinFormsApp
│   │   ├── BlazorWpfApp
```

- *Maui.Controls.Sample*: Full gallery sample with all of the controls and features of .NET MAUI
- *Maui.Controls.Sample.Sandbox*: Empty project useful for testing reproductions or use cases
- *Essentials.Sample*: Full gallery demonstrating the library previously known as Essentials. These are all the non UI related MAUI APIs.

### Testing

- [Testing Wiki](https://github.com/dotnet/maui/wiki/Testing)


## Stats

<img src="https://repobeats.axiom.co/api/embed/f917a77cbbdeee19b87fa1f2f932895d1df18b71.svg" />