Beneath the Surface: Exploring Visual Studio with NPM and Typescript

Can you explain how Visual Studio (2015) interacts with external tools such as NPM and the Typescript compiler (tsc.exe)? I imagine that during the building of a solution or project, MSBuild is prompted to execute these additional tools. I'm curious about the mechanics behind this process.

visual-studiotypescriptbuildnpm

Answer №1

The outcome varies...

Within Visual Studio, there exists a multitude of services and functionalities that are interconnected:

  • Language Services - Visual Studio has the capability to be enhanced with language services, which provide features like intellisense, syntax analysis, and highlighting. Microsoft offers a Language service for Javascript and Typescript that includes this functionality.
  • MsBuild - At the core of most Visual Studio projects lies an MsBuild project. Within your Program Files directory, you'll discover an MsBuild folder containing various target files. Among these is a file for Typescript that transforms .ts files during the build process. These target files employ either the exec MsBuild task to run tools directly or utilize a custom MsBuild task in the form of a .NET Assembly that implements specific interfaces. These tasks may execute the required actions themselves or call upon external tools to perform the action.
  • Roslyn - Roslyn, a new compiler, handles the parsing of C# and VB.NET projects as well as background compilation of sources. Running continuously in the background while code is being typed, Roslyn creates a powerful in-memory model of all project code. Add-ins compatible with Roslyn, such as analyzers and refactor action tools, offer feedback on common errors and suggest automated code changes.
  • Task Runner - The Visual Studio Task Runner, initially released as an extension before becoming integrated into Visual Studio itself, reacts to IDE events like builds and tests. It can associate commands in package.json, grunt, bower scripts, ensuring proper execution timing during builds.
  • Test Runners - Extensions like Mocha and Chutzpah, supported within the Visual Studio Test Window, are recognized during test executions. These plugins handle listing and executing tests, serving as intermediaries providing test results and status feedback post-execution.
  • Custom extensions - Various vendors extend Visual Studio through generic extensions, incorporating elements like those mentioned above. These extensions may monitor Visual Studio events as users work and respond accordingly.

Answer №2

To find references to the typescript items, you can open the .csproj file with a text editor or within Visual Studio by unloading the project, right-clicking on the project, and selecting "edit myproject.csproj."

Within the .csproj file, you will see references to the typescript resources:

<ItemGroup>
    <TypeScriptCompile Include="src\config.ts" />

You can also define the build target using the following configuration:

<Import Project="$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v$(VisualStudioVersion)\TypeScript\Microsoft.TypeScript.targets" Condition="Exists('$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v$(VisualStudioVersion)\TypeScript\Microsoft.TypeScript.targets')" />

To configure external tools, navigate to Tools/Options and make necessary adjustments.

https://i.stack.imgur.com/KIoze.png

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