stevedunn / vogen.serialization

Build System Outline

Motivation: The build system is responsible for compiling the codebase, creating executables, and managing dependencies. Understanding the build system is essential for developers who want to contribute to the project or use the generated code in their own applications.

Build Tools and Platforms:

  • MSBuild: The primary build tool used for this project is Microsoft Build Engine (MSBuild). This is a powerful and extensible build platform that is widely used for building .NET applications. https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/visualstudio/msbuild/
  • Visual Studio: Visual Studio is the integrated development environment (IDE) used to manage and build the project. It includes the MSBuild engine and provides a graphical user interface for interacting with the build process. https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/

Build Configurations and Settings:

The project supports several build configurations that define the build process and the resulting output.

  • Debug: This configuration is used for development purposes and produces a non-optimized build with debugging symbols enabled.
  • Release: This configuration is used for production deployments and produces an optimized build with debugging symbols disabled.
  • AnyCPU: This setting specifies that the project can run on any CPU architecture. https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/standard/hardware/anycpu

Build Dependencies and Management:

  • NuGet: The project uses NuGet to manage its dependencies. NuGet is a package manager for .NET that allows developers to easily install and manage external libraries. https://www.nuget.org/
  • Project References: The project includes references to other .NET projects that are required for building the application. These references are defined in the project file (vogen.serialization.csproj).

Build Process:

The build process is controlled by the MSBuild engine. The project file (vogen.serialization.csproj) contains the instructions for building the project, including:

  • Compilation: The source code is compiled into assemblies using the C# compiler.
  • Packaging: The compiled assemblies are packaged into NuGet packages for distribution.
  • Testing: Unit tests are executed as part of the build process.
  • Documentation: Documentation is generated using the docfx tool.

Example Build Command:

msbuild vogen.serialization.csproj /t:Rebuild /p:Configuration=Release

This command will rebuild the project in Release configuration.