Programming ASP.NET, Second Edition

Projects and Solutions

A typical .NET application is comprised of many items: source files, assembly information files, references, icons, as well as miscellaneous other files and folders. Visual Studio .NET organizes these items into a container called a project. One or more projects are contained within a solution. When you create a new project, Visual Studio .NET automatically creates the containing solution.

Solutions

Solutions typically contain one or more projects. They may contain other, independent items as well. These independent solution items are not specific to any particular project, but apply, or scope, to the entire solution. The solution items are not an integral part of the application, because they can be removed without changing the compiled output. They can be managed with source control.

Miscellaneous files are independent of the solution or project, but they may be useful to have handy. They are not included in any build or compile, but will display in the Solution Explorer (described in the section “View Menu,” later in this chapter), and may be edited there. Typical miscellaneous files include project notes, database schemas, or sample code files.

It is also possible to have a solution that does not contain any projects—just solution or miscellaneous files, which can be edited using Visual Studio .NET.

Solutions are defined within a file named for the solution with a .sln extension. The .sln file contains a list of the projects that comprise the solution, the ...