ABOUT

Nant is an open-source build automation tool that works off of an XML document to execute a sequence of defined tasks that build .NET applications. NAnt is a port of the popular Ant build tool from the Java community. Ant was created to address some of the deficiencies of older shell-based build tools such as make and nmake. If you've ever written make scripts, you will appreciate NAnt's ease of use and its extensible architecture.


Nant works well as an automated build tool. It supports compiling C#, Visual Basic .NET, C++, and J# files. It can compile these files against the .NET Framework platform [v1.x, V2.0 (Beta 1)] and Mono.


COURSE OBJECTIVES

Although Visual Studio .NET does a number of things very well to assist in the development process, there are certainly areas that need improvement. One of those areas is dealing with a build process that requires something a little more than just compiling source code.


In teams of developers, there is always going to be a need for a structured build process. This can be a manual process, but most likely you'll want to automate this process as much as possible. In today's ultra-fast world, continuous integration is key to determining where you are in your development project. If multiple developers check in code at various times, it is always a good thing to have an "integration check"?something to make sure all the code gels together.


The idea behind continuous integration is that when a developer checks code in, a process is triggered to perform a system build to make sure the code doesn't break the build. This action usually involves the execution of unit tests as well. If the build, along with the unit tests, succeeds, the developer has immediate feedback that the check-in didn't break the build. No one wants to be the person who broke the build!


The idea behind continuous integration is that when a developer checks code in, a process is triggered to perform a system build to make sure the code doesn't break the build. This action usually involves the execution of unit tests as well. If the build, along with the unit tests, succeeds, the developer has immediate feedback that the check-in didn't break the build. No one wants to be the person who broke the build!


The typical build process involves actions like these:

  • Pulling source updates from the source code repository
  • Preparing the build directories
  • Compiling the source code
  • Running the unit tests
  • Creating the setup packages
  • Deploying the output binaries
  • Notifying the team that a new build is available

If you incorporated Visual Studio .NET into a build process such as this, you would create an elaborate batch file that calls out to Visual Studio .NET's command-line (devenv.exe) along with the additional tools to handle the tasks that .NET couldn't. Another way to attack it may be to write some hooks into the .NET IDE automation model to handle some of these tasks during a build, but who has the time? The good news is that there are tools available built specifically to handle these types of build process requirements. One of the more popular build tools in the .NET community is NAnt.


PRE-REQUISITES

  • Basic understanding of Windows system concepts
  • Familiarity with Command Line Interface (CLI)
  • Familiarity with a Text Editor
  • Experience with managing
  • Systems/applications/infrastructure or with build/deployments/automation
  • Familiarity with developing and building software
  • Familiarity with Visual Studio 2005, 2008, or 2010
  • Familiarity with their organizaiton's development process
  • Be able to read and understand C# and C++ code (all source code will be provided)

FEATURES

  • 30 Hours instructor led online class
  • Hands on Approach - We emphasize on learning by doing.
  • Life time free re-enrollment to future DevOps courses
  • Life time free access to all learning materials including
  • Class recordings
  • Presentations
  • Sample Code
  • Projects
  • Total Lab Infrasture in cloud and 24x7 available
  • 70% of the class is consist of Lab
  • Each week assignments(total 4) with personal assistance
  • Two real time senario based projects with standard evaluation
  • 24x7 online support to queries during and after the course completion
  • 1 dedicated class for Interview preparations

AGENDA


The basic course program is outlined here:

  • Why NAnt?
  • System Requirements
  • Installation
  • Getting Started
  • Ant Users
  • Running NAnt
  • Build Files
  • Projects
  • Targets
  • Tasks
  • Properties
  • Loggers & Listeners
  • Expressions
  • Functions