Testing C# 9.0 in VS2019 - CS0518 IsExternalInit is not defined or imported ... How do I define/import it?

Question

EDIT [Nov 29 2020]: .NET 5.0 is out now, but the solution below is still required if you're targetting .NET Standard 2.1

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C# 9.0 is still under development. There are a couple references which lead me to believe it should be testable now (some of it, anyway).

1. A Microsoft blog by Mr. Awesome himself, introducing the features. https://devblogs.microsoft.com/dotnet/welcome-to-c-9-0/
2. The language tracking page on github: https://github.com/dotnet/roslyn/blob/master/docs/Language%20Feature%20Status.md

I'm using VS 2019 16.7 Preview 3.1. I've selected the language version as Preview for a project.

Some C# 9 features, I can use. Like: Dictionary<string, object> Stuff = new()

But using the new init feature gives me this error: Error CS0518 Predefined type 'System.Runtime.CompilerServices.IsExternalInit' is not defined or imported

How do I fix this?

Examples of code causing the error:

class Test {    public int Hello { get; init; } } 

and

record Test(int hello); 

The record definition is shorthand and expands into something that uses init, which is why it's also affected.

The language tracking page I linked to above says the feature was Merged into 16.7p3, which I am using.

Am I just being overly excited? Do I need to wait? Or is there a way to play with these features right now :D

EDIT (requested in comments) - Adding csproj for .net 5.0 console app:

<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">   <PropertyGroup>     <OutputType>Exe</OutputType>     <TargetFramework>net5.0</TargetFramework>     <LangVersion>preview</LangVersion>   </PropertyGroup> </Project> 

EDIT #2: A workaround posted here - https://github.com/dotnet/roslyn/issues/45510

Answer 1

This is a bug in the current preview and the latest master branch (June 27). A simple record in sharplab.io creates the same error.

Just add the missing type somewhere in your project

using System.ComponentModel;  namespace System.Runtime.CompilerServices {     [EditorBrowsable(EditorBrowsableState.Never)]     internal class IsExternalInit{} } 

Records and init will work without problem.

Only LinqPad 6 seems to work without problems, probably because it includes that type too