Project Structure

The glue: how the files from the other notes become one program you can run.

Create and run a project

The dotnet CLI is your composer + artisan combined:

dotnet new console -n MyApp   # create a console app in ./MyApp
cd MyApp
dotnet run                    # build + run
dotnet build                  # build only
dotnet add package Newtonsoft.Json   # add a NuGet package (like composer require)

dotnet new console gives you two important files:

• MyApp.csproj — the project manifest. Target framework, package references, settings. This is your composer.json.
• Program.cs — the entry point. Code here runs when the app starts.

A typical layout

Folders are for organisation; they don't create structure by themselves the way Laravel's autoloader maps directories. What actually connects files is the namespace, which by convention mirrors the folder path:

MyApp/
├─ MyApp.csproj
├─ Program.cs              // entry point
├─ Models/
│  └─ User.cs             // namespace MyApp.Models
├─ Services/
│  └─ LoginService.cs     // namespace MyApp.Services
└─ Helpers/
   └─ TextHelper.cs       // namespace MyApp.Helpers

Namespaces & using — how files see each other

This is the one genuinely new concept vs PHP. Two steps:

1. Each file declares a namespace — a logical address for the types in it.
2. Another file pulls that namespace in with using to make those types visible.

namespace MyApp.Services;   // this file's address

public class LoginService { /* ... */ }

using MyApp.Services;       // now LoginService is visible here

var service = new LoginService(/* ... */);

The entry point

Modern C# (.NET 6+) lets Program.cs be plain top-level statements — no class or Main boilerplate needed:

using MyApp.Models;
using MyApp.Services;

var users = new List<User>
{
    new User { Username = "ada", Password = "secret" }
};

var loginService = new LoginService(users);

Console.Write("Username: ");
var username = Console.ReadLine() ?? "";
Console.Write("Password: ");
var password = Console.ReadLine() ?? "";

var user = loginService.Login(username, password);
Console.WriteLine(user is not null ? $"Welcome, {user.Username}!" : "Invalid credentials.");

Laravel → .NET tooling cheat

Where to go next

• Solidify the language → C# basics
• Model your data → Classes & models
• Organise behaviour → Services & helpers