Return to Answer

I would just add a command line script (*.bat) to your package, calling VS with commands like

set VSPATH=C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 10.0
set DEVENV="%VSPATH%\Common7\IDE\devenv.exe"
%DEVENV% YourProgramsSolutionFile.sln /build "Release" /out Build.log

This script can be run by a simple double-click, which should not be too hard to explain to anyone else, programmer or not.

Actually, I find it very cumbersome to force a non-programmer to install Visual Studio on his machine only to let him compile your program. So when you want to deliver a package to someone else, why don't you provide a ready-made binary setup routine additionally to the source code?

I would just add a command line script (*.bat) to your package, calling VS with commands like

set VSPATH=C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 10.0
set DEVENV="%VSPATH%\Common7\IDE\devenv.exe"
%DEVENV% YourProgramsSolutionFile.sln /build "Release" /out Build.log

This script can be run by a simple double-click, which should not be too hard to explain to anyone else, programmer or not.

Actually, I find it very cumbersome to force a non-programmer to install Visual Studio on his machine only to let him compile your program. So when you want to deliver a package to someone else, why don't you provide a setup routine for an already compiled binary additionally to the source code?

Here is a related article you might find interesting: http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2007/10/the-f5-key-is-not-a-build-process.html

I would just add a command line script (*.bat) to your package, calling VS with commands like

set VSPATH=C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 10.0
set DEVENV="%VSPATH%\Common7\IDE\devenv.exe"
%DEVENV% YourProgramsSolutionFile.sln /build "Release" /out Build.log

This script can be run by a simple double-click, which should not be too hard to explain.

Actually, I find it very unlikely that a non-programmer will have Visual Studio installed on his machine, and when you want to deliver a package to someone like this, why don't you provide a setup routine additionally to the source code?

I would just add a command line script (*.bat) to your package, calling VS with commands like

set VSPATH=C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 10.0
set DEVENV="%VSPATH%\Common7\IDE\devenv.exe"
%DEVENV% YourProgramsSolutionFile.sln /build "Release" /out Build.log

This script can be run by a simple double-click, which should not be too hard to explain to anyone else, programmer or not.

Actually, I find it very cumbersome to force a non-programmer to install Visual Studio on his machine only to let him compile your program. So when you want to deliver a package to someone else, why don't you provide a ready-made binary setup routine additionally to the source code?

Honestly, I find it very unlikely that a non-programmer will have Visual Studio installed on his machine, and when you want to deliver a package to someone like this, why don't you provide a setup routine additionally to the source code?

Nethertheless, if you really want this work, I would just add a command line script (*.bat) to your package, calling VS with commands like

set VSPATH=C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 10.0
set DEVENV="%VSPATH%\Common7\IDE\devenv.exe"
%DEVENV% YourProgramsSolutionFile.sln /build "Release" /out Build.log

This script can be run by a simple double-click, which should not be too hard to explaint.

I would just add a command line script (*.bat) to your package, calling VS with commands like

set VSPATH=C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 10.0
set DEVENV="%VSPATH%\Common7\IDE\devenv.exe"
%DEVENV% YourProgramsSolutionFile.sln /build "Release" /out Build.log

This script can be run by a simple double-click, which should not be too hard to explain.

Actually, I find it very unlikely that a non-programmer will have Visual Studio installed on his machine, and when you want to deliver a package to someone like this, why don't you provide a setup routine additionally to the source code?