When a website is created using Visual Studio, it creates a solution (.sln) file and a hidden solution user options (.suo) file. These files are created under My Documents\Visual Studio[version] folder. The solution file, an XML file, consists of the following information:
• List of projects existing under the solution
• List of project dependencies
• Source control information, including Microsoft VSTF Server
• A list of associated add-ins
• Default language used by the solution
The solution user options file, a binary file, contains user project settings for the IDE and are specific to each developer. This file consists of the following information:
• The task list
• Debugger break points and watch window settings
• Visual Studio window locations
Since the solution files are Visual Studio specific and not needed for website deployment, they are not located under the website folder (although they may exist under the same folder). Also, since a solution file consists of a list of projects and websites, it is a good practice to keep them separate. In addition, different developers can have different solution file (pointing to the same list of projects) configured to their preference.
Using visual studio, we can either create a website or a web application. The former does not have an associated project file while the later does. The project file in web applications is helpful for developers who use visual studio for building applications.
