PROJECTS AND SOLUTIONS

Visual Studio groups files into projects and solutions. A project is a group of files that produces some specific output. This output may take many forms such as a compiled executable program, a dynamic-link library (DLL) of classes for use by other projects, or a control library for use on other Windows forms.

A solution is a group of one or more projects that should be managed together. For example, suppose that you are building a server application that provides access to your customer order database. You are also building a client program that each of your sales representatives will use to query the server application. Because these two projects are closely related, it might make sense to manage them in a single solution. When you open the solution, you get instant access to all the files in both projects.

Both projects and solutions can include associated files that are useful for building the application but that do not become part of a final compiled product. For example, a project might include the application’s proposal and architecture documents. These are not included in the compiled code, but it can be useful to associate them with the project so they are easy to find, open, and edit while you are working on the project.

When you open the project, Visual Studio lists those documents along with the program files. If you double-click one of these documents, Visual Studio opens the file using an appropriate application. For example, if you double-click a file with a .doc, .docm, or .docx extension, Visual Studio normally opens it with Microsoft Word.

To associate one of these files with a project or solution, right-click the project file at the top of the Solution Explorer (more on the Solution Explorer shortly). In the context menu that appears, select the Add command’s New Item entry, and use the resulting dialog box to select the file you want to add.