“Learning Mode"

[Syrix42]

Summary
C# and Visual Studio have evolved to become very developer-friendly, especially with features like top-level statements, global using directives, and implicit usings. While these are fantastic for productivity, they can unintentionally hide important fundamentals from beginners.

Problem
New learners often struggle to understand:

Where Console.WriteLine() comes from

Why they can use List without importing a namespace

Why there’s no visible Main() method in their program

These hidden conveniences are great for pros, but they create confusion for learners trying to understand what’s actually happening under the hood.

Proposed Solution: “Learning Mode” Project Templates
Introduce a new category of project templates (e.g., Learning Console App, Learning Class Library) that:

🛑 Disable ImplicitUsings by default

🛑 Disable top-level statements

✅ Require explicit using statements

✅ Require explicit Main() method and entry point

✅ Show a clean, minimal .csproj file

✅ Possibly include inline comments in the generated code to guide learners

Benefits
Builds a deeper understanding of the C# compilation and execution model

Bridges the gap between C# and lower-level languages like C++ or Java for learners

Reduces confusion from hidden “magic”

Encourages good practices and awareness of namespaces, assemblies, and runtime structure

Optional:
Allow toggling between "Learning Mode" and "Productivity Mode" in project settings later, for a smoother transition.

[Frulfump]

Yes hard agree on this that the new features they claim to be beginner friendly is actually making it harder to learn .NET properly.
See this for some discussions around it #49182