Web development on Windows (original) (raw)

Microsoft offers a variety of resources for web developers, including new tools and features supporting web development using Windows. This guide covers many of the tools available to make Windows your ideal environment to develop on for the web. For a list of APIs, see APIs for web development.

WebView 2
Embed web content (HTML, CSS, and JavaScript) in your native applications with Microsoft Edge WebView2.Download WebView 2

Microsoft Edge DevTools
Microsoft Edge Developer Tools are a set of inspection and debugging tools built directly into the Microsoft Edge browser. To open DevTools, with Microsoft Edge in focus:

Right-click then Inspect
Select the F12 key
Ctrl + Shift + i

Progressive Web Apps on Windows
Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) provide your users with a native, app-like experience customized for their devices. They are websites that are progressively enhanced to function like native apps on supporting platforms.
Get started with PWAs

Microsoft Edge browser

Microsoft Edge for Developers
The new Microsoft Edge is based on Chromium to create better web compatibility and less fragmentation of underlying web platforms. Released January 15, 2020, it is supported on Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android.
Install the new Microsoft Edge

Debugging, Testing and Accessibility

WebDriver
Close the loop on your developer cycle by automating testing of your website in Microsoft Edge with Microsoft WebDriver.
Install WebDriver

Visual Studio code editors

VS Code
A lightweight source code editor with built-in support for JavaScript, TypeScript, Node.js, a rich ecosystem of extensions (C++, C#, Java, Python, PHP, Go) and runtimes (such as .NET and Unity).
Install VS Code

Visual Studio (IDE)
An integrated development environment that you can use to edit, debug, build code, and publish apps, including compilers, intellisense code completion, and many more features.
Install Visual Studio

WSL, Terminal, Package Manager, Docker Desktop

ASP.NET, Typescript, .NET MAUI

ASP.NET
A cross-platform framework for building web apps and services, Internet of Things (IoT) apps, or mobile backends with .NET and C#. Build rich interactive web UI with Blazor. Use your favorite dev tools on Windows, macOS, and Linux. Deploy to the cloud or on-premises. Run on .NET.
Install ASP.NET

Typescript
TypeScript extends JavaScript by adding types to the language. For example, JavaScript provides language primitives like string, number, and object, but it doesn’t check that you’ve consistently assigned these. TypeScript does.
Try in your browser Install locally

.NET MAUI
.NET Multi-platform App UI (.NET MAUI) lets you build native apps using a .NET cross-platform UI toolkit that targets the mobile and desktop form factors on Android, iOS, macOS, Windows, and Tizen.
Install .NET MAUI

Open Source contributions

Open Source at Microsoft
Thousands of Microsoft engineers use, contribute to and release open source every day. Popular projects include Visual Studio Code, TypeScript, .NET, and ChakraCore.
Get involved

Contribute to the docs
Most of the documentation sets at Microsoft are open source and hosted on GitHub. Contribute by filing issues or authoring pull requests.
Learn how

Cloud development with Azure

Azure
A complete cloud platform to host your existing apps and streamline new development. Azure services integrate everything you need to develop, test, deploy, and manage your apps.
Set up an Azure account

Azure Cognitive Services
Cloud-based services with REST APIs and client library SDKs available to help you build cognitive intelligence into your applications.
Try Cognitive Service

Additional resources

Set up your development environment on Windows
Get help setting up your development environment to work with Python, NodeJS, C#, C, C++, build Android apps, build Windows desktop apps, build Docker containers, run PowerShell scripts, and more.
Get started

React Native for Desktop
Bring React Native support to the Windows SDK and macOS 10.13 SDK. Use JavaScript to build native Windows apps for all devices supported by Windows including PCs, tablets, 2-in-1s, Xbox, Mixed reality devices, etc., as well as the macOS desktop and laptop ecosystems.
Install React Native for Windows
Install React Native for MacOS

Transitioning between Mac and Windows

Check out our guide to transitioning between a Mac and Windows (or Windows Subsystem for Linux) development environment.