Why does Visual Studio continue build after Stop debugging?

Question

I have a Visual Studio solution with roughly 90 projects in it (mixture of Windows Forms in C#/VB.NET,WPF and Silverlight stuff). I have a Windows Forms application (C#) as the startup app. I press F5 to start debugging.

When I exit the debugged application by selecting Stop Debugging in Visual Studio or by selecting Exit in the debugged application, Visual Studio continues the compilation of different assemblies. I have seen no pattern in what assemblies are compiled and it doesn't happen every time.

If I press F5 to start a debugging session, why would Visual Studio continue to build assemblies after I have finished debugging?

Answer 1

Maybe those assemblies that are compiled after your application launches do not affect your application and VS wants to launch your application as early as possible?

Answer 2

Have you checked your solution's Configuration Properties ? You can specify there which projects to be built.

Answer 3

Are you using Edit-and-continue? If so, it's rebuilding the edited assemblies.