ASP.NET MVC on Mono/OS X

In a previous life I was a full time C# and ASP.NET developer. While I specialize in SQL Server these days, it’s still nice to keep up to date on new development techniques and technologies. I’ve recently become quite interested in ASP.NET MVC as an alternative to using Web Forms (which I have always disliked). Now, I also use a MacBook and I really like OS X for just about everything. MonoDevelop isn’t quite there yet on OS X. I also don’t like leaving a virtual machine running just so I can occasionally play around with ASP.NET MVC, and I’m far too impatient to wait for one to boot. What’s the next best thing? Install Mono and get ASP.NET MVC running on OS X!

[caption id=“attachment_857” align=“alignright” width=“300”] The heresy is prolific around here[/caption]

Here’s what I did:

• Download and install Mono fromthe mono download page.
• Install ASP.NET MVC DLL… You’ll need a windows install for this, or at least a friend with a Windows install. Luckily Joseph Hill put together a set of instructions tocopy the ASP.NET MVC DLL to your Mac
• Develop!

Want proof that it works? Look no further than the screenshot attached to this post. I took it about 15 minutes ago. That’s how easy this was to get set up. Update: I spoke too hastily about MonoDevelop on OS X. A new build has been posted and you can find out more from Miguel de Icaza.