.NET interactive uses a dialect of C# - the script dialect. With file based apps, we strive to use the standard C#, so you can convert file based apps to full projects at any time.
That doesn't explain why standard C# had to deviate further from the script dialect just for import directives. These directives don't interfere with the rest of the grammar.
Is #:package <pkg> really so much nicer than #r "nuget: <pkg>" as to deserve deviating from .NET Interactive, F# and the existing NuGet picker? (It could be, if properly argued!) Has there been any effort to have the rest of .NET adopt this new syntax or share concerns?
On that note, is any language other than C# supported for `dotnet run`? Is the machinery at least documented for other MSBuild SDKs to use? Considering how dotnet watch keeps breaking for F#, I suspect not.
> Is #:package <pkg> really so much nicer than #r "nuget: <pkg>" as to deserve deviating from .NET Interactive, F# and the existing NuGet picker? (It could be, if properly argued!)
Yes, we believe so. There is not much to be gained from reusing the syntax (it's not like you can import cs from csx or vice versa). We are also adding other directives, e.g., `#:property` - it would not make sense to reuse `#r` for that. `#r` is short for "reference", because it was originally meant for referencing DLLs which is discouraged in modern .NET. The main motivation for file-based programs is to lower the entry barrier, and having opaquely named directives like `#r` seems counter-productive.
> On that note, is any language other than C# supported for `dotnet run`?
> Is the machinery at least documented for other MSBuild SDKs to use?
There is really not much special machinery, an in-memory csproj file is created and built via MSBuild just like an on-disk csproj would. Any MSBuild SDK can be used via the `#:sdk` directive.
debugnik|9 months ago
Is #:package <pkg> really so much nicer than #r "nuget: <pkg>" as to deserve deviating from .NET Interactive, F# and the existing NuGet picker? (It could be, if properly argued!) Has there been any effort to have the rest of .NET adopt this new syntax or share concerns?
On that note, is any language other than C# supported for `dotnet run`? Is the machinery at least documented for other MSBuild SDKs to use? Considering how dotnet watch keeps breaking for F#, I suspect not.
janjones|8 months ago
Yes, we believe so. There is not much to be gained from reusing the syntax (it's not like you can import cs from csx or vice versa). We are also adding other directives, e.g., `#:property` - it would not make sense to reuse `#r` for that. `#r` is short for "reference", because it was originally meant for referencing DLLs which is discouraged in modern .NET. The main motivation for file-based programs is to lower the entry barrier, and having opaquely named directives like `#r` seems counter-productive.
> On that note, is any language other than C# supported for `dotnet run`?
File-based programs are for C# only. F# already has `dotnet fsi`. VB support seems unlikely per the language strategy: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/fundamentals/langua...
> Is the machinery at least documented for other MSBuild SDKs to use?
There is really not much special machinery, an in-memory csproj file is created and built via MSBuild just like an on-disk csproj would. Any MSBuild SDK can be used via the `#:sdk` directive.