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Select the C# language version
The C# compiler defaults to the latest major version of the language that has been released. You may choose to compile any project using a new point release of the language. Choosing a newer version of the language enables your project to make use of the latest language features. In other scenarios, you may need to validate that a project compiles cleanly when using an older version of the language.
This capability decouples the decision to install new versions of the SDK and tools in your development environment from the decision to incorporate new language features in a project. You can install the latest SDK and tools on your build machine. Each project can be configured to use a specific version of the language for its build.
There are several ways to set the language version:
- Rely on a Visual Studio quick action.
- Set the language version in the Visual Studio UI.
- Manually edit your .csproj file.
- Set the language version for multiple projects in a subdirectory.
-
Configure the
-langversioncompiler option.
Visual Studio quick action
Visual Studio helps you determine the language version you need. If you use a language feature that is not available for the currently configured version, Visual Studio shows a potential fix to update the language version for the project.
Set the language version in Visual Studio
You can set the version in Visual Studio. Right-click on the project node in Solution Explorer and select Properties. Select the Build tab and select the Advanced button. In the dropdown, select the version. The following image shows the "latest" setting:
Note
If you use the Visual Studio IDE to update your csproj files, the IDE creates separate nodes for each build configuration. You'll typically set the value the same in all build configurations, but you need to set it explicitly for each build configuration, or select "All Configurations" when you modify this setting. You'll see the following in your csproj file:
<PropertyGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Release|AnyCPU'">
<LangVersion>latest</LangVersion>
</PropertyGroup>
<PropertyGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Debug|AnyCPU'">
<LangVersion>latest</LangVersion>
</PropertyGroup>
Edit the csproj file
You can set the language version in your .csproj file. Add an element like the following:
<PropertyGroup>
<LangVersion>latest</LangVersion>
</PropertyGroup>
The value latest uses the latest minor version of the C# language. Valid values are:
| Value | Meaning |
|---|---|
| default | The compiler accepts all valid language syntax from the latest major version that it can support. |
| ISO-1 | The compiler accepts only syntax that is included in ISO/IEC 23270:2003 C# (1.0/1.2) |
| ISO-2 | The compiler accepts only syntax that is included in ISO/IEC 23270:2006 C# (2.0) |
| 3 | The compiler accepts only syntax that is included in C# 3.0 or lower. |
| 4 | The compiler accepts only syntax that is included in C# 4.0 or lower. |
| 5 | The compiler accepts only syntax that is included in C# 5.0 or lower. |
| 6 | The compiler accepts only syntax that is included in C# 6.0 or lower. |
| 7 | The compiler accepts only syntax that is included in C# 7.0 or lower. |
| 7.1 | The compiler accepts only syntax that is included in C# 7.1 or lower. |
| 7.2 | The compiler accepts only syntax that is included in C# 7.2 or lower. |
| 7.3 | The compiler accepts only syntax that is included in C# 7.3 or lower. |
| latest | The compiler accepts all valid language syntax that it can support. |
The special strings default and latest resolve to the latest major (C# 7.0) and minor (C# 7.3) language versions installed on the build machine, respectively.
Configure multiple projects
You can create a Directory.build.props file that contains the <LangVersion> element to configure multiple directories. You typically do that in your solution directory. Add the following to a Directory.build.props file in your solution directory:
<Project>
<PropertyGroup>
<LangVersion>7.3</LangVersion>
</PropertyGroup>
</Project>
Now, builds in every subdirectory of the directory containing that file will use C# version 7.3 syntax. For more information, see the article on Customize your build.
Set the langversion compiler option
You can use the -langversion command-line option. For more information, see the article on the -langversion compiler option. You can see a list of the valid values by typing csc -langversion:?.