NAnt is a free and open source software tool for automating software build processes.

It is similar to Apache Ant, but targeted at the.NET environment rather than Java. The name NAnt comes from the fact that the tool is Not Ant [1] NAnt requires one of the .NET frameworks (1.0, 1.1, 2.0, 3.5 or 4.0) or the third party Mono platform.

In the field of computer software, the term software build refers either to the process of converting source code files into standalone software artifact(s) that can be run on a computer, or the result of doing so. One of the most important steps of a software build is the compilation process where source code files are converted into executable code. In software versioning, the build number is often used as a versioning identifier subordinate to, and more finely graded than, the version number. For example, various iterations of an application might be called "Acme FooWare 6.0", but in the "Help > About" dialog, the exact iteration will be identified with a longer, unique identifier that includes both the version number and the build number (for example, Acme FooWare 6.0.3.2246). While for simple programs the process consists of a single file being compiled, for complex software the source code may consist of many files and may be combined in different ways to produce many different versions. The process of building a computer program is usually managed by a build tool, a program that coordinates and controls other programs. Examples of such a program are make, ant, maven, SCons and Phing. The build utility needs to compile and link the various files, in the correct order. If the source code in a particular file has not changed then it may not need to be recompiled (may not rather than need not because it may itself depend on other files that have changed). Sophisticated build utilities and linkers attempt to refrain from recompiling code that does not need it, to shorten the time required to complete the build. Modern build utilities may be partially integrated into revision control programs like Subversion. A more complex process may involve other programs producing code or data for the build process.

Build automation is the act of scripting or automating a wide variety of tasks that software developers do in their day-to-day activities including things like: compiling computer source code into binary code packaging binary code running tests deployment to production systems creating documentation and/or release notes