Embarking on a coding journey with C often means leveraging the latest language features to write cleaner, more efficient, and robust code. While modern Visual Studio versions inherently support the newest C iterations, developers sometimes find themselves working within older environments, such as Visual Studio 2013. This can present a unique challenge when aiming to utilize the significant enhancements introduced with C 6.0, including features like string interpolation and the null-conditional operator. The good news is that it’s not only possible but also a relatively straightforward process to learn how to enable C 6.0 features in Visual Studio 2013, bridging the gap between an established IDE and modern language capabilities. This guide will walk you through the necessary steps, ensuring your projects can benefit from C 6.0’s advancements without requiring a complete IDE overhaul.

Understanding the C 6.0 and Visual Studio 2013 Compatibility Gap

Visual Studio 2013, by default, ships with a compiler that understands up to C 5.0. This means that if you try to use C 6.0 features directly within a project in this IDE, you’ll encounter compilation errors. The fundamental reason for this incompatibility lies in how the .NET ecosystem evolved. Prior to C 6.0, the C compiler was an intrinsic part of the Visual Studio IDE, tightly coupled with its release cycle. A new version of C typically meant a new version of Visual Studio.

C 6.0, however, marked a significant paradigm shift with the introduction of the Roslyn compiler, or the .NET Compiler Platform. Roslyn was designed to be “compiler-as-a-service,” decoupling the compiler from the IDE. This innovation allows developers to use newer C language features even in older Visual Studio versions, provided they integrate the Roslyn compiler into their project. Visual Studio 2013 itself doesn’t natively understand C 6.0 syntax, but by explicitly instructing your project to use the Roslyn compiler, you can bypass this limitation.

This decoupling is a powerful concept. It means you don’t necessarily need to upgrade your entire development environment to access the benefits of newer language syntax. Instead, you can update just the compiler component within your project. This approach is particularly valuable in enterprise environments where upgrading Visual Studio versions might be complex due to dependency management, testing cycles, or licensing constraints. Understanding this architectural change is key to successfully enabling C 6.0 features in Visual Studio 2013.

The Roslyn Compiler Platform: Your Bridge to Modern C

The Roslyn compiler platform is the cornerstone for enabling C 6.0 features in Visual Studio 2013. It represents a complete rewrite of the C and Visual Basic compilers, exposing them as APIs. This “compiler-as-a-service” model allows developers to programmatically interact with the compiler, enabling powerful scenarios like code analysis, refactoring, and, crucially for our purpose, using newer language versions with older IDEs. When you want to utilize C 6.0 features, you’re essentially telling your project to use the Roslyn-based C 6.0 compiler instead of the one built into Visual Studio 2013.

To integrate Roslyn into a Visual Studio 2013 project, you typically leverage NuGet packages. Specifically, the Microsoft.Net.Compilers package provides the necessary compiler binaries and infrastructure. By adding this package to your project, you override the default compiler behavior, instructing MSBuild (the build engine used by Visual Studio) to use the Roslyn compiler for compilation. This means that even if Visual Studio 2013’s editor doesn’t fully understand the new syntax for features like the null-conditional operator or expression-bodied members, the build process will correctly interpret and compile your C 6.0 code.

This approach offers significant flexibility and extends the lifespan of existing development environments. It allows teams to incrementally adopt newer language features without the overhead of a full IDE migration. While the Visual Studio 2013 editor might show some squiggles for C 6.0 syntax, indicating it doesn’t natively recognize the code, the critical part is that the project will compile successfully, and the resulting assembly will run correctly. This mechanism ensures that your development workflow remains productive while embracing the advantages of modern C.

Enabling C 6.0 features in Visual Studio 2013 involves adding a specific NuGet package to your project. This package injects the Roslyn compiler into your build process, allowing it to correctly interpret and compile C 6.0 syntax. This method is applicable to most project types, including class libraries, console applications, and ASP.NET projects.

To enable C 6.0 in Visual Studio 2013, you need to install the Microsoft.Net.Compilers NuGet package into your project. This package effectively upgrades the compiler used during your project’s build process. For optimal compatibility and stability, ensure you select a version of the package that corresponds to C 6.0 (e.g., versions starting with 1.x.x, where 1.0.0 was the initial release for C 6.0). This will allow your Visual Studio 2013 environment to successfully compile code utilizing features like string interpolation, nameof expressions, and null-conditional operators, even though the IDE itself might not provide full IntelliSense support for these newer constructs during editing.

1. Open Your Project in Visual Studio 2013: Launch Visual Studio 2013 and open the specific project where you want to enable C 6.0 features.
2. Access NuGet Package Manager: Right-click on your project in the Solution Explorer. From the context menu, select “Manage NuGet Packages…”.
3. Search for Microsoft.Net.Compilers: In the NuGet Package Manager window, go to the “Browse” tab. In the search box, type “Microsoft.Net.Compilers”.
4. Install the Package: Locate the “Microsoft.Net.Compilers” package in the search results. Click “Install”. When prompted to review changes and accept licenses, proceed with the installation. It’s recommended to install a stable version, typically the latest 1.x.x version for C 6.0 support.
5. Rebuild Your Project: After the package is successfully installed, rebuild your project (Build > Rebuild Solution or Ctrl+Shift+B). This action will trigger MSBuild to use the newly installed Roslyn compiler, allowing your C 6.0 code to compile without errors.

This process effectively overrides the default compiler that Visual Studio 2013 would normally use. Now, your project can benefit from the concise syntax and powerful capabilities introduced in C 6.0. Remember that while the compiler will understand Question & Answer :

I was going through the latest features introduced in C# 6.0 and just followed an example of auto property initializer,

class NewSample { public Guid Id { get; } = Guid.NewGuid(); } 

but my IDE did not recognize the syntax.

I am wondering how I could enable C# 6.0 in Visual Studio 2013. The Target framework I am using is 4.5.1.

Under VS2013 you can install the new compilers into the project as a nuget package. That way you don’t need VS2015 or an updated build server.

https://www.nuget.org/packages/Microsoft.Net.Compilers/

Install-Package Microsoft.Net.Compilers 

The package allows you to use/build C# 6.0 code/syntax. Because VS2013 doesn’t natively recognize the new C# 6.0 syntax, it will show errors in the code editor window although it will build fine.

Using Resharper, you’ll get squiggly lines on C# 6 features, but the bulb gives you the option to ‘Enable C# 6.0 support for this project’ (setting saved to .DotSettings).

As mentioned by @stimpy77: for support in MVC Razor views you’ll need an extra package (for those that don’t read the comments)

Install-Package Microsoft.CodeDom.Providers.DotNetCompilerPlatform 

If you want full C# 6.0 support, you’ll need to install VS2015.