Creating a Simple Menu in C# Console Application

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Creating a Simple Menu in C# Console Application

August 3, 2023 Ellie Killen 1 Comment

Moving Up

Time to make a menu

When developing a C# console application, it is often useful to have a menu system that allows users to interact with the program in a structured and intuitive manner. Menus provide a user-friendly way to present options and functionalities, making the application more organized and easier to navigate. In this article, we will guide you through the process of creating a simple menu in a C# console application. This is the next step from our programming series, with the second article being found here, and the first found here.

Step 1: Setting Up the Project

To begin, open your preferred integrated development environment (IDE) or text editor with C# support, such as Visual Studio or Visual Studio Code. Create a new C# Console Application project and give it an appropriate name.

Step 2: The Menu Loop

A menu usually involves a loop that displays options to the user and continuously accepts input until the user decides to exit. Let's create the main structure of our menu loop:

In the code above, we have defined a 'Main' method, which is the entry point of our application. We initialize a boolean variable 'exit' to control the loop, and inside the loop, we call two methods: 'DisplayMenu' and 'GetChoice'.

Step 3: Displaying the Menu

The 'DisplayMenu' method is responsible for showing the options to the user. Let's implement this method:

The 'DisplayMenu' method simply prints the menu options to the console. Feel free to customize the menu items according to your application's needs.

Step 4: Getting User Input

Now, let's implement the 'GetChoice' method to read the user's input and return their selected option:

In this method, we use a 'while' loop with 'int.TryParse' to ensure that the user enters a valid integer as their choice. If the input is not a valid number, the loop will continue until the user enters a valid input.

Step 5: Implementing Menu Options

Now that we have the basic structure of our menu loop, we can implement the functionality for each menu option. For each case in the 'Switch' statement, you can add the code to execute the desired functionality.

For example, let's assume we want to implement a simple calculator:

You can follow a similar approach for other menu options. Once you're done implementing the functionalities, you have a complete simple menu-based console application in C#!

In this article, we have seen how to create a simple menu in a C# console application. The menu allows users to interact with the program in a structured and user-friendly manner. By providing options and functionalities, users can easily navigate and utilize the application's features. Whether you're creating a calculator, a text-based game, or any other console application, having a menu can significantly improve the user experience. Feel free to expand upon this basic menu system to suit the requirements of your specific application. Happy coding!

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Creating a Multiple Choice Quiz in a C# Console Application - Xzopia Limited

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