Microsoft releases VSBT to enable project compilation without installing Visual Studio

Developers who have installed Visual Studio with the Microsoft platform are often able to easily manipulate their projects: Open the solution, modify the content, set up all the necessary files, and compile the project after configuration. However, in environments where Visual Studio is not installed, such as building servers or continuous delivery systems, it is very difficult to compile projects and solutions.
Microsoft's previous solution to this issue was to provide a variety of tools, including Visual C + + build tools for C + + and Microsoft build tools for managed code (Visual Basic and C #). While this approach provides support for the primary language, it also adds complexity and is easy to confuse by providing two similarly named tools. In order to remedy this, Microsoft recently released Visual Studio Build Tools (VSBT).
VSBT combines the two previously provided tools into one installation package, which can also be installed with MFC/ATL support, the Windows Universal C Runtime environment, and a variety of Windows SDKs. The VSBT installation package is functionally similar to visual Studio 2017, but its focus is primarily on the various build tools available (future versions will support Windows XP, but are not currently supported).
In this release, running VSBT setup from the command line will not be able to get all the same functionality as the similar Visual Studio installation package. For example, "-help" and "/?" are not supported. Adam Welch from Microsoft revealed that these features will be included in future releases. For now, the best course of action is the command-line parameter description on the VS2017RC reference Guide. As before, Microsoft will also provide an offline VSBT installation package, the entire size of the offline package is about 2.5GB.
VSBT Another feature that will be available in the next release is support for Windows XP. Currently, the release time for the next release is not yet determined. Developers who want to download the installation package directly can click here.

Microsoft releases VSBT to enable project compilation without installing Visual Studio