<s>
Microsoft	B-Application
Build	I-Application
Engine	O
,	O
or	O
MSBuild	B-Application
,	O
is	O
a	O
set	O
of	O
free	B-License
and	I-License
open-source	I-License
build	B-Application
tools	I-Application
for	O
managed	O
code	O
under	O
the	O
Common	O
Language	O
Infrastructure	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
native	O
C	B-Language
and	O
C++	B-Language
code	I-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
first	O
released	O
in	O
2003	O
and	O
was	O
a	O
part	O
of	O
.NET	B-Application
Framework	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
MSBuild	B-Application
is	O
included	O
with	O
Visual	B-Application
Studio	I-Application
,	O
but	O
can	O
also	O
be	O
run	O
independently	O
through	O
MSBuild	B-Application
's	O
command-line	B-Application
interface	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
MSBuild	B-Application
is	O
a	O
build	B-Application
tool	I-Application
that	O
helps	O
automate	O
the	O
process	O
of	O
creating	O
a	O
software	O
product	O
,	O
including	O
compiling	B-Language
the	O
source	O
code	O
,	O
packaging	B-Application
,	O
testing	O
,	O
deployment	B-Application
and	O
creating	O
documentations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
MSBuild	B-Application
,	O
it	O
is	O
possible	O
to	O
build	O
Visual	B-Application
Studio	I-Application
projects	O
and	O
solutions	O
without	O
the	O
Visual	B-Application
Studio	I-Application
IDE	B-Application
installed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MSBuild	B-Application
is	O
free	B-License
and	I-License
open-source	I-License
.	O
</s>
<s>
MSBuild	B-Application
was	O
previously	O
bundled	O
with	O
.NET	B-Application
Framework	I-Application
;	O
starting	O
with	O
Visual	B-Application
Studio	I-Application
2013	O
,	O
however	O
,	O
it	O
is	O
bundled	O
with	O
Visual	B-Application
Studio	I-Application
instead	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MSBuild	B-Application
is	O
a	O
functional	O
replacement	O
for	O
the	O
nmake	O
utility	O
,	O
which	O
remains	O
in	O
use	O
in	O
projects	O
that	O
originated	O
in	O
older	O
Visual	B-Application
Studio	I-Application
releases	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MSBuild	B-Application
acts	O
on	O
MSBuild	B-Application
project	O
files	O
which	O
have	O
a	O
similar	O
XML	B-Protocol
syntax	O
to	O
Apache	B-Application
Ant	I-Application
or	O
NAnt	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Even	O
though	O
the	O
syntax	O
is	O
based	O
upon	O
well-defined	O
XML	B-Language
schema	I-Language
,	O
the	O
fundamental	O
structure	O
and	O
operation	O
is	O
comparable	O
to	O
the	O
traditional	O
Unix	O
make	B-Application
utility	O
:	O
the	O
user	O
specifies	O
what	O
will	O
be	O
used	O
(	O
typically	O
source	O
code	O
files	O
)	O
and	O
what	O
the	O
result	O
should	O
be	O
(	O
typically	O
a	O
static	O
library	O
,	O
DLL	O
or	O
an	O
executable	O
application	O
)	O
,	O
but	O
the	O
utility	O
itself	O
decides	O
what	O
to	O
do	O
and	O
the	O
order	O
in	O
which	O
to	O
carry	O
out	O
the	O
build	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MSBuild	B-Application
can	O
build	O
a	O
project	O
against	O
a	O
supported	O
.NET	B-Application
Framework	I-Application
version	O
of	O
choice	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MSBuild	B-Application
was	O
first	O
created	O
in	O
2003	O
targeting	O
.NET	B-Application
Framework	I-Application
2.0	O
for	O
use	O
in	O
Visual	B-Application
Studio	I-Application
2005	O
(	O
codenamed	O
Whidbey	O
)	O
and	O
Windows	B-Application
Vista	I-Application
(	O
codenamed	O
Longhorn	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Target	O
A	O
Target	O
contains	O
a	O
set	O
of	O
tasks	O
for	O
MSBuild	B-Application
to	O
execute	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
focus	O
of	O
MSBuild	B-Application
is	O
the	O
result	O
Target	O
specified	O
when	O
invoking	O
MSBuild	B-Application
with	O
the	O
project	O
file	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
are	O
typically	O
implemented	O
in	O
a	O
.NET	B-Application
assembly	O
as	O
a	O
class	O
which	O
inherits	O
from	O
the	O
Task	O
class	O
or	O
implements	O
the	O
ITask	O
interface	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
basic	O
tasks	O
are	O
shipped	O
as	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
.NET	B-Application
Framework	I-Application
,	O
and	O
community	O
developed	O
tasks	O
are	O
freely	O
available	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
examples	O
of	O
Tasks	O
include	O
copying	O
files	O
,	O
creating	O
directories	O
,	O
or	O
parsing	O
XML	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Properties	O
and	O
Items	O
MSBuild	B-Application
provides	O
Properties	O
and	O
Items	O
,	O
which	O
are	O
conceptually	O
equivalent	O
to	O
make	B-Application
's	I-Application
macros	O
.	O
</s>
