How to make csc.exe C# 6 aware

Question

I am compiling a basic console app using :

C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\csc.exe /t:exe /out:myapp.exe Program.cs

Which first prints :

Microsoft (R) Visual C# Compiler version 4.6.1038.0
for C# 5
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Then fails because I am using string interpolation like $"{x}". The error is:

error CS1056: Unexpected character '$'

I assume this is because the csc.exe does not understand C# 6. How do I make this compiler C# 6 aware?

score 7 · Answer 1 · answered Apr 20 '16 at 08:15

7

You are using an old version of the compiler. From this MSDN forum post, the C# compiler is no longer part of the .NET Framework. You have to download it yourself.

You can do that from this NuGet statement:

nuget install Microsoft.Net.Compilers

answered Apr 20 '16 at 08:15

Patrick Hofman

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wow, is it possible to install this on to a system without VS? Part of the reason I was using csc.exe was so that I did'nt have to touch VS. – sprocket12 Apr 20 '16 at 08:20
Yes, download the nuget package manager. The link is in that forum post. – Patrick Hofman Apr 20 '16 at 08:22
3

The "current version" is also bundled under C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\14.0\Bin if you've installed the Build Tools package. – Jason Malinowski Apr 20 '16 at 17:30

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 25 '20 at 23:57

I got the same problem here;

I fixed using the Roslyn compiler inside de Visual Studio 2019 instalation folder , setting up the environment variable of csc to it.

Changed

C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319

To

C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Community\MSBuild\Current\Bin\Roslyn

In the system environment variables and worked here

How to make csc.exe C# 6 aware

2 Answers2

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