Boo: Getting started

Want to look into Boo? Let me give you a quick guide to getting the tools you need.

Development environment

For the time being I recommend you do your coding in Sharpdevelop. Download and install the latest here. You should also download the latest Boo-distro (the binaries), and move (and overwrite) the Boo-files into The sharpdevelop install-folder: SharpDevelop\3.0\AddIns\AddIns\BackendBindings\BooBinding. Now your development environment is in place.

For Visual Studio integration, Boo Lang Studio is the thing. But sadly I don’t find it stable enough yet.

The source

Yes, you should download the Boo source code. It’s helpful to use it to browse class hierarchies, to see how things actually work, and most importantly, the source contains a lot of example code. I actually learned macros by looking at the source code for the built in macros (print, assert etc).

The compiler extensibility

To fully understand how Boo works with the compiler, it’s very helpful to be able to inspect the result. That is, the assemblies that are produced. There is an excellent tool for doing that, Reflector. Download it, and start looking at the compiled assemblies you produce.

Starting points

You should start at the Boo homepage. Also take a look at Ayende’s blog. He blogs quite a bit about Boo.

- Tore Vestues