It provides the compilers and MSBuild engines without the overhead of the actual code editor. Summary Checklist What to Download New Web Apps .NET SDK (Current Version) Full Development Visual Studio Community CI/CD / Build Servers Visual Studio Build Tools Legacy Framework Sites Included in Windows (.NET Framework)
While you might be looking for a standalone "ASP.NET Compiler" download button, the modern way to get these tools is a bit different than downloading a simple .exe . Depending on whether you are working with the classic ASP.NET (Framework) or the modern ASP.NET Core, here is how you get the compiler on your machine. 1. The Modern Way: Download the .NET SDK
This is used for "pre-compiling" a site to check for errors or to create a deployment package where the source code is hidden. 4. Lightweight Alternative: Build Tools for Visual Studio asp.net compiler download
If you are maintaining an older "Web Site Project" (not a "Web Application Project") on the legacy ASP.NET Framework, you are likely looking for aspnet_compiler.exe .
After installing the .NET SDK, open your terminal and type dotnet --version . If it returns a version number, your compiler is installed and ready to go. It provides the compilers and MSBuild engines without
Download the SDK (Software Development Kit), not just the Runtime. The SDK contains the build tools and compilers needed to turn your code into an application.
When you install Visual Studio and select the "ASP.NET and web development" workload, it automatically installs the correct versions of the MSBuild engine and the compilers. Lightweight Alternative: Build Tools for Visual Studio If
This tool is already on your Windows machine if you have the .NET Framework installed.