/target:exe (Create a Console Application) (C# Compiler Options)

The /target:exe option causes the compiler to create an executable (EXE), console application.

/target:exe

Remarks

The /target:exe option is in effect by default. The executable file will be created with the .exe extension.

Use /target:winexe to create a Windows program executable.

Unless otherwise specified with the /out option, the output file name takes the name of the input file that contains the Main method.

When specified at the command line, all files up to the next /out or /target:module option are used to create the .exe file

One and only one Main method is required in the source code files that are compiled into an .exe file. The /main compiler option lets you specify which class contains the Main method, in cases where your code has more than one class with a Main method.

To set this compiler option in the Visual Studio development environment

  1. Open the project's Properties page.

  2. Click the Application property page.

  3. Modify the Output type property.

For information on how to set this compiler option programmatically, see OutputType.

Example

Each of the following command lines will compile in.cs, creating in.exe:

csc /target:exe in.cs
csc in.cs

See Also

Reference

/target (Specify Output File Format) (C# Compiler Options)

Other Resources

C# Compiler Options