Every .NET and .NET MAUI developer has encountered that moment when mysterious build issues appear, and the age-old advice rings true: "Have you tried deleting your bin and obj folders?" These folders, while essential for storing compiled builds and cache files, can sometimes cause headaches during development.
Today, I'm excited to introduce a simple yet powerfulVisual Studio Code extension that streamlines this common cleanup task for .NET developers.
Real-life Scenarios
When starting a new project in .NET MAUI, setting up the app icon or splash screen is an important step. This often involves ensuring the design meets the right specifications, such as proper padding, sizing, and background color. If you find that changes aren’t reflecting as expected after deleting the app from the emulator or device, it’s a good idea to clear the associated folders as well. This ensures the updates are applied correctly and avoids potential design inconsistencies.
How to Use the "Delete Bin and Obj Folders" Extension
1. Install the extension
- Open the Extensions panel in Visual Studio Code.
- Search for Delete Bin.
- Find "Delete Bin and Obj Folders" by vhugogarcia and click Install.
2. On the Explorer window
- Right-click the folder where you would like to delete the /bin and /obj folders
- Click the option: "Delete /bin and /obj Folders"
3.Rebuild and Keep Coding
- Rebuild your project to generate fresh build filesYou’ll be starting from a clean slate, ready to tackle the next coding challenge.
Conclusion
The Delete Bin and Obj Folders extension is all about keeping things simple and saving you time. It’s a small but powerful extension that helps .NET developers like you and me to run our .NET app with a fresh build and generated cache files. While it may seem like a small change, saving a couple of clicks and the time spent searching for those folders can add up. Over time, this extension will save you precious seconds and minutes, making your workflow smoother and more efficient.
Download the extension now and see how much easier it makes your day-to-day development. And if you enjoy using it, don’t forget to leave a review, contribute, share your feedback—it means the world and helps me create even better tools for our community!
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Top comments(1)
For those not using VS Code, this little snippet works wonders to extend the standard Clean build option when added to any .csproj or Directory.Build.props file:
<!-- Make sure any old temp files are removed--><Target Name="CustomClean" AfterTargets="Clean" Condition="$([MSBuild]::IsOSPlatform('Windows'))"> <Message Text="Running custom clean up... $(ProjectDir)bin" /> <Exec Command="rmdir /s /q $(ProjectDir)bin" /> <Message Text="Running custom clean up... $(ProjectDir)obj" /> <Exec Command="rmdir /s /q $(ProjectDir)obj" /></Target><Target Name="CustomCleanMac" AfterTargets="Clean" Condition="$([MSBuild]::IsOSPlatform('OSX'))"> <Message Text="Running custom clean up... $(ProjectDir)bin" /> <Exec Command="rm -R $(ProjectDir)bin" ContinueOnError="true" /> <Message Text="Running custom clean up... $(ProjectDir)obj" /> <Exec Command="rm -R $(ProjectDir)obj" ContinueOnError="true" /></Target>For further actions, you may consider blocking this person and/orreporting abuse
