Project and item templates are reusable stubs that give you some basic code and structure to customize for your own purposes. Typically, you start with a project template and then you add an item template.
There are many predefined project and item templates available to you when you install Visual Studio. Project templates, such as the ASP.NET Core Web App and Class Library templates, are available to choose from when you create a new project. Item templates, such as code files, XML files, HTML pages, and Style Sheets, appear in the Project > Add New Item dialog box.
These templates provide a starting point for users to begin creating projects, or to expand existing projects. Project templates provide the files that are required for a particular project type, include standard assembly references, and set default project properties and compiler options. Item templates can range in complexity from a single empty file that has a specific file extension, to multiple source code files with stub code, designer information files, and embedded resources.
You can use installed templates, author your own custom templates, or download and use templates created by the community. For more information, see How to: Create project templates and How to: Create item templates.
All project and item templates, whether installed with Visual Studio or created by you, function by using the same principles and have similar contents. All templates contain the following items:
When these files are compressed into a .zip file and put in the correct folder, Visual Studio automatically displays them in the following places: