Build configurations are a powerful feature that enables you to maintain different variants of a project. Each configuration contains a set of the project characteristics that you can configure for a particular purpose; for example, you may use one set of characteristics for a debug build, and another for building an application for production. Maintaining different build configurations allows you to easily switch the build process for your project without having to reconfigure your settings each time.
Build configurations include options that cover many facets of a project's behavior, such as the configuring the names and locations of output files, debugging options, error handling behavior, and the setting of compiler directives. You can also specify pre- and post-build command events.
They are managed from the project settings, where you can switch between configurations using the Manage Configurations option ().
Settings within a build configuration override the settings set at a project level.