Inside the Microsoft Build Engine

As software complexity increases, proper build practices become ever more important. This essential reference drills inside MSBuild—and shows how to maximize your control over the build and deployment process. Learn how to customize and extend build processes with MSBuild—and scale them to the team, product, or enterprise level with Team Foundation Build.

Discover how to:



Create and modify MSBuild files—outside the Visual Studio IDE
Use XML-based syntax to declare dynamic properties and items
Apply built-in tasks or write your own
Customize the build process—adding code generation, unit testing, or code analysis


Use batching and incremental builds to reduce build times
Invoke external tools in scripts and create reusable files
Start and stop services
Set assembly versions and extend the clean process
Configure, customize, and extend Team Build—and automate build from end to end