Team Foundation Build provides the functionality of a public build lab and is part of Team Foundation. With Team Foundation Build, enterprise build managers can synchronize the sources, compile the application, run associated unit tests, perform code analysis, release builds on a file server, and publish build reports. Build result data are propagated to the warehouse for historical reporting. Team Foundation Build works with other Visual Studio Team System tools during the build process, including source control, work item tracking, and with test tools. For more information, see Team Foundation Version Control and Querying for Work Items.

Team Foundation Build:

• Build Definition   Provides an interface that lets the user define the build steps and build parameters needed for the user's builds. The builds can be defined to be on-demand, rolling, or continuous integration where each check-in causes a build to be queued according to its priority.

• Build Queue   Provides a queue for the requested builds. Each build has an associated priority and the builds are built in accordance to the priority and the date/time position in the queue.

• Build Execution   Leverages the build definition to build the product and generate build outputs. It runs all build steps, including the execution of test code; it updates work items; and it calculates the build metrics.

• Build Report   Provides a view into the execution of the build. The report lists the overall build status including detailed build steps; work items resolved, code changes, and summary of test execution. The build reports are viewable from Build Explorer. For more information, see Understanding the Team Foundation Build Explorer and Working with Team Foundation Build Reports.

Team Foundation Build also provides the capability for public and private or desktop builds.

To get started with Team Foundation Build, see Walkthrough: Creating a Build Definition in Team Foundation Build.

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