To get started with developing applications on Service Fabric, you will need to the following:

1. Install the runtime, SDK, and tools.
2. A Service Fabric cluster to deploy your applications.
3. Configure PowerShell to enable SDK script execution.

We are going to use C#, Visual Studio 2015, and Windows 10 to develop all samples in this book.

To install the SDK, tools, and Service Fabric runtime, use the Web Platform Installer (Visual Studio 2015) or enable Service Fabric workload (Visual Studio 2017). You can read more about these options at:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/service-fabric/service-fabric-get-started.

Service Fabric uses Windows PowerShell scripts for creating a local development cluster and for deploying applications from Visual Studio. By default, Windows blocks these scripts from running. To enable them, you must modify your PowerShell execution policy. Open PowerShell as an administrator and enter the following command:

Set-ExecutionPolicy -ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted -Force -Scope CurrentUser

After you have completed the installation steps, you should be able to find the Service Fabric local cluster manager installed in your system, along with new Service Fabric project templates in your Visual Studio. Let's get started with building our first application on Service Fabric in the next chapter.