As a .NET Development Company, we understand the importance of optimization in software
development processes. Build automation is key to streamline repetitive tasks
and achieve consistent, reliable project builds. In the .NET ecosystem, tools
like MSBuild and dot net CLI are commonly used for builds. However, a more
powerful option is Nuke Build - a cross-platform build automation tool for
.NET.
Nuke Build empowers developers with a rich set of features
for declarative and optimized builds of .NET solutions. As part of our .NET
Development Services, we recommend Nuke Build for managing builds of solutions
with complex requirements. In this blog, we will explore how to leverage Nuke
Build for building .NET projects.
What is Nuke Build?
Nuke Build is an open source, cross-platform build
automation system for .NET projects. It is written entirely in C# and aims to
provide a flexible, intuitive and extensible framework for build orchestration.
At its core, Nuke Build executes tasks based on command-line parameters and a
simple domain-specific language for build definition.
This declarative approach allows defining dependencies
between tasks, parallelization, runtime values, conditions etc through code
instead of XML. Tasks can be anything from building solutions, running tests,
publishing packages to deploying code. Nuke Build is lightweight, fast and does
not require MSBuild to be installed.
Key Features of Nuke Build
Cross-Platform: Runs seamlessly on Windows, Linux and macOS.
Declarative Approach: Projects are defined through code for
readability and maintainability.
Parameterization: Allow dynamic values through parameters
like version number, paths etc.
Conditionals: Flexible conditional logic through IF/ELSE
blocks.
Parallelization: Executes independent tasks concurrently to
optimize build speed.
Library Support: Extensible through packages and custom
tasks for any specific needs.
Logging: Detailed logs tracking timings and errors help
auditing builds.
Caching: Supports build output and task result caching to
improve subsequent runs.
With these features, Nuke Build offers an effective way to
orchestrate end-to-end .NET project builds compared to alternative tools. Let's
see it in action.
Getting Started with Nuke Build
To use Nuke Build for a .NET project, install the global
tool using .NET CLI -
dotnet tool install --global Nuke.Build
Then create a class inheriting NukeBuild or having a static
Main method decorated with [Terminal] attribute. This class will contain build
tasks:
[Terminal]
public static class Build
{
public static int Main() =>
Execute
}
Define tasks as methods accepting optional parameters. For
example:
public static void Clean() =>
DotNetClean("./src", new
DotNetCleanSettings {
Outputs = new []{"bin", "obj"}
});
Call tasks from Main method, add dependencies:
public static int Main() => Execute
.DependsOn(Clean)
.Executes(() => Compile()));
Run build using nuke:
nuke
This shows a basic Nuke Build workflow. More tasks can be
added and chained with dependencies for any complex project needs.
Defining Build Workflows
Nuke Build supports declarative definition of multi-step
build workflows using build parameters, conditions and parallelization.
1. Build Parameters
Define dynamic parameters to allow runtime configuration:
public static string Configuration { get; set; }
public static void Main() => Execute
x.Configuration = IsLocalBuild ? "Debug"
: "Release";
});
2. Conditional Logic
Add IF/ELSE blocks for flexible conditional tasks execution:
public static void Main() => Execute
if (x.Configuration == "Debug")
x.DependsOn(DebugTasks);
else
x.DependsOn(ReleaseTasks);
});
3. Parallel Tasks
Parallelize independent tasks to optimize builds:
public static void Main() => Execute
x.Parallelize(
parallel => {
parallel.StartWith("Build
classlib", BuildClassLib);
parallel.QueueTask("Build
API", BuildApi);
parallel.QueueTask("Build
Web", BuildWeb);
});
});
4. Global Configuration
Configure settings globally:
Configure(config => {
config.SetExecutablePath("dotnet",
findTool("dotnet"));
config.SetDirectoryPath("src", "./src");
});
This illustrates how Nuke Build provides a fully
customizable end-to-end build pipeline for advanced .NET solutions.
Working with Nuke Build Tasks
Nuke Build ships with built-in tasks for common operations
and also allows defining custom tasks.
Built-in Tasks:
DotNetTasks: Build, Test, Publish etc using dotnet CLI
MSBuildTasks: Interact with MSBuild for project/solution
builds
TestTasks: Run unit/integration tests using NUnit, xUnit etc
PublishTasks: Publish build outputs to folders, NuGet feeds
FileTasks: Task to copy, move, delete files
ScriptingTasks: Execute PowerShell/Bash scripts
Custom Tasks:
Create classes inheriting from NukeBuild.Tasks.Task:
public class MyTask : Task
{
public override void Execute()
{
// task logic
}
}
Register in build file:
Target("MyTask", () =>
MyTask());
These tasks can be used to automate any specific
requirements like deployments, packaging etc.
Benefits of Using Nuke Build
- Consistent & Reliable Builds
- Fully Customizable Workflows
- Parallelization for Speed
- Parameterization for Flexibility
- Conditions for Control Flow
- Validation & Auditing
- Extensibility via Tasks
- Easy Adoption for any .NET Project
In summary,
Nuke Build provides an optimized way to handle build
automation requirements for .NET solutions. Being configurable yet lightweight,
it offers benefits over traditional build tools. Choosing Nuke Build gives .NET
Development Companies like us an effective option for managing consistent build
pipelines catering to diverse project needs. When you decide to hire .NET Developers,
you can leverage Nuke Build to streamline and enhance your development
processes.
