What are some good beginners resources for learning MSBuild?

Question

I'm looking for resources for learning MS Build (not just books). At this point I'm mostly concerned with merging assemblies and automating build tasks. (nightly builds etc.)

possible duplicate of [Is there a good tutorial on MSBuild scripts?](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1326445/is-there-a-good-tutorial-on-msbuild-scripts) — Ruben Bartelink, Aug 10 '10 at 08:10

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Aug 09 '10 at 18:12

2

Neither merging nor automating builds has a lot to do with MSBuild. You'd need ILMerge and, say, CruiseControl.NET.

answered Aug 09 '10 at 18:12

Hans Passant

922,412
146
1,693
2,536

so I'm barking up the wrong tree? What does MSBuild provide then? – Firoso Aug 09 '10 at 18:37
I'd say you'll need a fair knowledge of msbuild if you want to automate ILmerging and get the most out of automated builds. – nos Aug 09 '10 at 21:01
I said not JUST books, I'm including e-books, articles, and webcasts. – Firoso Aug 09 '10 at 23:06

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 09 '10 at 22:29

2

Have you looked at the online docs?

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd393574.aspx

answered Aug 09 '10 at 22:29

Brian

117,631
17
236
300

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Aug 13 '10 at 02:17

I use the docs previously mentioned, but they weren't really helpful to learn MSBuild. For that, I turned to "Inside the Microsoft Build Engine: Using MSBuild and Team Foundation Build". After reading it and learning all the MSBuild concepts, I now use the MSBuild doc's as a reference. They finally make sense.

What are some good beginners resources for learning MSBuild?

3 Answers3