Backend Course: Initial Setup
Install everything before starting Week 1.
Tools to install
Section titled “Tools to install”Allow 30–60 minutes for this. All tools are free and work offline after installation.
1. .NET 8 SDK
Section titled “1. .NET 8 SDK”The framework for building C# backend applications.
- Download: https://dotnet.microsoft.com/download
- Verify install:
dotnet --version(should print8.x.x)
2. Docker Desktop
Section titled “2. Docker Desktop”Runs PostgreSQL locally in a container. No database installation needed.
- Download: https://www.docker.com/products/docker-desktop
- Verify install:
docker --version
3. VS Code + C# Dev Kit
Section titled “3. VS Code + C# Dev Kit”Code editor with full C# support.
- Download VS Code: https://code.visualstudio.com
- Install the C# Dev Kit extension from the VS Code marketplace
- Also recommended: Docker extension and REST Client extension
4. Azure Data Studio
Section titled “4. Azure Data Studio”GUI tool for viewing and querying your PostgreSQL database.
5. Git
Section titled “5. Git”Version control. Commit your work at the end of each week.
- Download: https://git-scm.com
- Verify install:
git --version
6. Postman (optional)
Section titled “6. Postman (optional)”For testing APIs. Swagger UI (built into the project) covers most needs, so this is optional.
- Download: https://www.postman.com/downloads/
Verify everything works
Section titled “Verify everything works”Run these commands in a terminal before starting Week 1:
dotnet --version # Should print 8.x.xdocker --version # Should print Docker version ...git --version # Should print git version ...Then start Docker Desktop and confirm it opens without errors.
Create your first project (optional warmup)
Section titled “Create your first project (optional warmup)”dotnet new web -n TestAppcd TestAppdotnet runOpen http://localhost:5000 in your browser. If you see “Hello World!”, everything is working.
Delete the folder when done — Week 1 will start fresh.