Build Less, Build Faster: Selective Targeting for .NET MAUI

[stephenquan]

The default MAUI project defines platform targets as:

<TargetFrameworks>net10.0-android</TargetFrameworks>
<TargetFrameworks Condition="!$([MSBuild]::IsOSPlatform('linux'))">$(TargetFrameworks);net10.0-ios;net10.0-maccatalyst</TargetFrameworks>
<TargetFrameworks Condition="$([MSBuild]::IsOSPlatform('windows'))">$(TargetFrameworks);net10.0-windows10.0.19041.0</TargetFrameworks>

We've been replacing this with fine-grained platform switches:

<TargetFrameworks Condition="'$(NoAndroidTarget)' != 'true'">net10.0-android</TargetFrameworks>
<TargetFrameworks Condition="'$(NoiOSTarget)' != 'true' and !$([MSBuild]::IsOSPlatform('linux'))">$(TargetFrameworks);net10.0-ios</TargetFrameworks>
<TargetFrameworks Condition="'$(NoMacTarget)' != 'true' and !$([MSBuild]::IsOSPlatform('linux'))">$(TargetFrameworks);net10.0-maccatalyst</TargetFrameworks>
<TargetFrameworks Condition="'$(NoWindowsTarget)' != 'true' and $([MSBuild]::IsOSPlatform('windows'))">$(TargetFrameworks);net10.0-windows10.0.19041.0</TargetFrameworks>

This allows us to enable or disable individual targets for rapid development. For example, the following Directory.Build.props file, when deployed on a Windows machine, disables the Android, iOS, and MacCatalyst targets:

<!-- Directory.Build.props -->
<Project>
  <PropertyGroup>
    <NoAndroidTarget>true</NoAndroidTarget>
    <NoiOSTarget>true</NoiOSTarget>
    <NoMacTarget>true</NoMacTarget>
  </PropertyGroup>
</Project>

Note: Directory.Build.props can live in the repository root or any parent directory, making it easy to apply settings across multiple repositories.

Alternatively, the same behaviour can be achieved using MSBuild properties:

dotnet build -p:NoAndroidTarget=true -p:NoiOSTarget=true -p:NoMacTarget=true

In our tests, this has improved build performance by at least 2×. For CI/CD builds, we can tailor Directory.Build.props for Windows, macOS, and Linux build agents so that Windows MSIX, iOS IPA, and Android APK packages can be produced more quickly than before.

Caveat: Disabling targets can significantly improve build times, but it may also hide platform-specific issues. Ensure all targets are re-enabled before publishing packages, creating releases, or completing feature work so that full cross-platform validation can be performed.

[ljzj2]

看不懂，速度可以提升还是说性能提升了？

[stephenquan]

看不懂，速度可以提升还是说性能提升了？

My post is a "show and tell" story that explains how our team improved build performance. If you follow the steps described, you too can achieve improved build performance.