New Microsoft MSBuild editor is an easier and more helpful experimental tool for developers

MSBuild is the build and tool platform for Microsoft's Visual Studio software development apps. However, it can be hard for some developers to use. Today, Microsoft announced it has launched an experimental version of the MSBuild editor that it hopes will be easier and more helpful for many developers.

In a blog post, Microsoft says it want feedback on this experimental MSBuild editor from developers who may need to edit csproj files directly so they can access certain features that are not available with the Visual Studio user interface. It adds:

You may also need to edit csproj files directly when merging changes from source control, or you may be writing targets and props files for local use or for publishing in a NuGet package.

The MSBuild editor can offer quick information on properties, items, and metadata in MSBuild expressions, in addition to the normal info revealed for XML elements.

The Quick Info popup is richer, and has deep links to relevant documentation, as well as hyperlinks to references in other files that may help you understand how that property or item is used by the underlying targets.

The experimental editor also adds IntelliSense "almost everywhere in the file, with documentation powered by its schemas" along with a type system that lets developers see any "malformed conditions and expressions" that might be present before they run the build. Microsoft says this editor includes a "new MSBuild-specific json-based schema format."

At the moment, this tool is only available for Visual Studio, but there are plans to add support for Visual Studio Code as well. In addition, if the feedback is positive, Microsoft plans to make this the default MSBuild editor for all .NET developers. You can check out the experimental MSBuild editor at the Visual Studio Marketplace website.

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