MSBuild will be at the PDC in a big way. We have two talks and one Hands-On-Lab. If you are interested in learning more about MSBuild, you should certainly check them out. I will be giving a talk on MSBuild Tips & Tricks. You will walk out of this talk with some really neat tricks to help you take full control of your build in ways that were previously next to impossible! It's on Tuesday (9/13) at 11:45am. Here's the abstract:
TLNL01 Tips & Tricks: Extending MSBuild with Tasks, Loggers, and Targets
"Building" on the fundamentals of MSBuild, this tips and tricks talk takes you through ten super cool ways you can optimize your build process-from using the MSBuild object model, to adding new types. In the end you'll walk away with a toolbelt full of knowledge that will make your application build process sing!"
Additionally, Rajeev Goel, one of the many super-developers on the MSBuild Team will be doing a deep-dive on advanced MSBuild concepts and patterns, drawing from our own experience of using MSBuild in the build labs for building Visual Studio (yes, large parts of Visual Studio 2005 tree build today using MSBuild!). Rajeev's talk is on Wednesday (9/14) at 5:00pm. Here's the abstract:
TLN402 MSBuild: Architecting a Customized Build System
Push MSBuild and TeamBuild to the extreme. This session teaches you advanced techniques for MSBuild development, including build patterns, best practices, and more. Take an in-depth look at how these practices have been applied in order to build Visual Studio 2005 (including TeamBuild itself!) with MSBuild and TeamBuild.
So come join us to learn about some of the cool features that we love about MSBuild and Visual Studio. Come prepared with the tough questions, and come prepared with criticism. Tell us what you love about the product, and more importantly what you would like to see improved.
See ya at the PDC.
-faisal
Did you know that we have a wiki on Channel9 that is dedicated to MSBuild? This is something new that we have been trying over the past few months. Look here to find information that is posted by everyone in the MSBuild community.
The quickstarts have been updated for beta2 - so try these out and let us know what you think. Also, don't be shy about requesting what you'd like to see on the site and in the product, by editing the Community Wishlist
faisal
And I should mention that I know the usual suspects on slashstar pretty well - I have worked with most of them in the past - including Tim, Rajiv, Alex, Dave and Adam. So in some ways, I feel like I am back to being a part of the crowd again :)
Hi - My name is Faisal Mohamood, and I recently started as a Program Manager on the MSBuild team in the Visual Studio Core team at Microsoft. It has only been about two months since I started at Microsoft, and I am still learning the ropes - but so far I am having a great time in my new role.
I will be covering various aspects of MSBuild and Visual Studio on this blog - so stay tuned! In the meantime, I hope you are enjoying your experiences with beta2. Please send us feedback as you use the product and uncover the features!
faisal