msbuild-antipatterns

# MSBuild Anti-Pattern Catalog A numbered catalog of common MSBuild anti-patterns. Each entry follows the format: - **Smell**: What to look for - **Why it's bad**: Impact on builds, maintainability, or correctness - **Fix**: Concrete transformation Use this catalog when scanning project files for improvements. --- ## AP-01: `<Exec>` for Operations That Have Built-in Tasks **Smell**: `<Exec Command="mkdir ..." />`, `<Exec Command="copy ..." />`, `<Exec Command="del ..." />` **Why it's bad**: Built-in tasks are cross-platform, support incremental build, emit structured logging, and handle errors consistently. `<Exec>` is opaque to MSBuild. ```xml <!-- BAD --> <Target Name="PrepareOutput"> <Exec Command="mkdir $(OutputPath)logs" /> <Exec Command="copy config.json $(OutputPath)" /> <Exec Command="del $(IntermediateOutputPath)*.tmp" /> </Target> <!-- GOOD --> <Target Name="PrepareOutput"> <MakeDir Directories="$(OutputPath)logs" /> <Copy SourceFiles="config.json" DestinationFolder="$(OutputPath)" /> <Delete Files="@(TempFiles)" /> </Target> ``` **Built-in task alternatives:** | Shell Command | MSBuild Task | |--------------|--------------| | `mkdir` | `<MakeDir>` | | `copy` / `cp` | `<Copy>` | | `del` / `rm` | `<Delete>` | | `move` / `mv` | `<Move>` | | `echo text > file` | `<WriteLinesToFile>` | | `touch` | `<Touch>` | | `xcopy /s` | `<Copy>` with item globs | --- ## AP-02: Unquoted Condition Expressions **Smell**: `Condition="$(Foo) == Bar"` — either si...