How to Create a JustCode Extension

I wrote about creating JustCode extensions when it was a new feature, and we have improved it based upon our experiences and your feedback.

To get started, open the Create New Project dialog and navigate to the Telerik options under Installed. Select C# Visual Studio JustCode Extension. The previous project type, C# JustCode extension, is still available for backwards compatibility.

Give your new extensions project a name, choose the location, then press OK. A project is created based on our new template. It has several example extensions included to help guide you. The difference with the old approach is that instead of building a DLL it now builds a VSIX package (which is a Visual Studio extension) that contains the extension module. JustCode loads all extensions of this kind so you can now easily distribute your JustCode extensions using the Visual Studio Gallery.

After you have created your custom features for JustCode, compile the solution. A VSIX package is created in the bin folder.

If you run the solution, the Experimental Visual Studio will start with the VSIX package loaded. If you want to install your extensions into the default hive (configuration) of Visual Studio, open the VSIX package by double-clicking on it.

Complete the installation steps and you are good to go. Wasn’t that easy?

If you want more examples of JustCode extensions, visit our extensions page. Be sure to check out our extensions project on GitHub. If you make anything cool and want to share it with the world, let us know; may feature your extension on the extensions page!

Chris is a technical evangelist for JustCode and a C# MVP. He is currently celebrating the Q3 2012 release of JustCode in Bulgaria with a bottle of rakia, a gift from the JustCode team. One must wonder how he was able to compose this blog article given the circumstances.