Google Gemini in .NET: The Ultimate Guide with Jochen Kirstaetter

RJJ Software's Software Development Service

This episode of The Modern .NET Show is supported, in part, by RJJ Software's Software Development Services, whether your company is looking to elevate its UK operations or reshape its US strategy, we can provide tailored solutions that exceed expectations.

Show Notes

"So on my side it was actually, the interesting experience was that I kind of used it one way, because it was mainly about reading the Python code, the JavaScript code, and, let’s say like, the Go implementations, trying to understand what are the concepts, what are the ways about how it has been implemented by the different teams. And then, you know, switching mentally into the other direction of writing than the code in C#."— Jochen Kirstaetter

Welcome friends to The Modern .NET Show; the premier .NET podcast, focusing entirely on the knowledge, tools, and frameworks that all .NET developers should have in their toolbox. We are the go-to podcast for .NET developers worldwide, and I am your host: Jamie “GaProgMan” Taylor.

In this episode, Jochen Kirstaetter joined us to talk about his .NET SDK for interacting with Google’s Gemini suite of LLMs. Jochen tells us that he started his journey by looking at the existing .NET SDK, which didn’t seem right to him, and wrote his own using the HttpClient and HttpClientFactory classes and REST.

"I provide a test project with a lot of tests. And when you look at the simplest one, is that you get your instance of the Generative AI type, which you pass in either your API key, if you want to use it against Google AI, or you pass in your project ID and location if you want to use it against Vertex AI. Then you specify which model that you like to use, and you specify the prompt, and the method that you call is then GenerateContent and you get the response back. So effectively with four lines of code you have a full integration of Gemini into your .NET application."— Jochen Kirstaetter

Along the way, we discuss the fact that Jochen had to look into the Python, JavaScript, and even Go SDKs to get a better understanding of how his .NET SDK should work. We discuss the “Pythonistic .NET” and “.NETy Python” code that developers can accidentally end up writing, if they’re not careful when moving from .NET to Python and back. And we also talk about Jochen’s use of tests as documentation for his SDK.

Anyway, without further ado, let's sit back, open up a terminal, type in `dotnet new podcast` and we'll dive into the core of Modern .NET.

Supporting the Show

If you find this episode useful in any way, please consider supporting the show by either leaving a review (check our review page for ways to do that), sharing the episode with a friend or colleague, buying the host a coffee, or considering becoming a Patron of the show.

Full Show Notes

The full show notes, including links to some of the things we discussed and a full transcription of this episode, can be found at: https://dotnetcore.show/season-7/google-gemini-in-net-the-ultimate-guide-with-jochen-kirstaetter/

Jason's Links:

• JoKi's MVP Profile
• JoKi's Google Developer Expert Profile
• JoKi's website

Other Links:

• Generative AI for .NET Developers with Amit Bahree
• curl
• Noda Time with Jon Skeet
• Google Cloud samples repo on GitHub
• Google's Gemini SDK for Python
• Google's Gemini SDK for JavaScript
• Google's Gemini SDK for Go
• Vertex AI
• JoKi's base NuGet package: Mscc.GenerativeAI
• JoKi's NuGet package: Mscc.GenerativeAI.Google
• System.Text.Json
• gcloud CLI
• .NET Preprocessor directives
• .NET Target Framework Monikers
• QUIC protocol
• IAsyncEnumerable
• Microsoft.Extensions.AI

Supporting the show:

• Leave a rating or review
• Buy the show a coffee
• Become a patron

Getting in Touch:

• Via the contact page
• Joining the Discord

Remember to rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts, Podchaser, or wherever you find your podcasts, this will help the show's audience grow. Or you can just share the show with a friend.

And don't forget to reach out via our Contact page. We're very interested in your opinion of the show, so please get in touch.

You can support the show by making a monthly donation on the show's Patreon page at: https://www.patreon.com/TheDotNetCorePodcast.

Music created by Mono Memory Music, licensed to RJJ Software for use in The Modern .NET Show