Overview of a New IDE for C# (.NET): What Developers Need to Know

New IDE for C# (.NET): A First Look at a Fresh Tool for Developers

The .NET ecosystem continues to actively evolve, and following the release of .NET 8 and the update to Visual Studio 2022, another interesting tool has appeared on the market — Rider 2024.2 from JetBrains. In this article, we will review the key innovations that make this IDE attractive for C# developers, including those working with asynchronous code, web APIs, and Blazor.

What's New in the Interface and Performance

The first thing that catches your eye after installation is the completely redesigned start screen. It is now adaptive and shows recent projects, including .NET MAUI solutions and console applications. JetBrains developers have added:

• Smart code navigation: symbol search is 30% faster thanks to indexing based on the Roslyn semantic model.
• Support for .NET 8 SDK: the IDE automatically recognizes installed SDK versions and offers up-to-date project templates.
• New memory inspector: the built-in profiler now shows object leaks in real time, which is critical for server applications on ASP.NET Core.

Tools for Working with C# 12

The new version of the IDE fully supports C# 12 syntax, including primary constructors and collection expressions. The editor highlights unused parameters and offers automatic refactorings, such as:

• Converting a regular class to a record.
• Extracting an interface from an existing class with a single command.
• Optimizing LINQ queries by replacing them with more performant constructs.

Special attention is given to working with asynchronous code: the analyzer now warns about potential deadlocks when using async void incorrectly and suggests replacing it with async Task.

Debugging and Testing

The built-in debugger has received a long-awaited improvement — conditional breakpoints with lambda expressions. You can now write conditions directly in the breakpoint using C# syntax:

• Support for debugging in Docker containers without additional plugins.
• Integration with xUnit and NUnit: tests run in parallel mode, and results are displayed in a convenient format with color indicators.
• New "Test Coverage" — shows which lines of code are covered by tests, directly in the editor.

Integration with the .NET Ecosystem

The IDE comes with pre-installed plugins for working with Entity Framework Core, SignalR, and Blazor. For web developers, a built-in terminal is available with support for dotnet watch and dotnet format commands. Additionally, the tool automatically syncs settings with ReSharper if you have previously used it in Visual Studio.

The new IDE from JetBrains is not just an alternative to Visual Studio, but a full-fledged tool that takes into account the modern realities of C# development: from microservices on .NET 8 to cross-platform MAUI applications. If you are looking for a lightweight yet powerful environment for working with .NET — this is an excellent candidate to get acquainted with.