# Build system Compile your code into a binary format, and customize your project settings to build your code. ## Overview The Xcode build system manages the tools that transform your code and resource files into a finished app. When you tell Xcode to build your project, the build system analyzes your files and uses your project settings to assemble the set of tasks to perform. Use your project settings to modify the build process and add tasks that you need to complete your builds.  ## Topics ### Essentials [Configuring a new target in your project](/documentation/Xcode/configuring-a-new-target-in-your-project) Configure your project to build a new product, and add the code and resources the product requires. [Configuring a multiplatform app](/documentation/Xcode/configuring-a-multiplatform-app-target) Share project settings and code across platforms in a single app target. ### Build settings [Configuring the build settings of a target](/documentation/Xcode/configuring-the-build-settings-of-a-target) Specify the options you use to compile, link, and produce a product from a target, and identify settings inherited from your project or the system. [Adding a build configuration file to your project](/documentation/Xcode/adding-a-build-configuration-file-to-your-project) Specify your project’s build settings in plain-text files, and supply different settings for debug and release builds. [Build settings reference](/documentation/Xcode/build-settings-reference) A detailed list of individual Xcode build settings that control or change the way a target is built. [Identifying and addressing framework module issues](/documentation/Xcode/identifying-and-addressing-framework-module-issues) Detect and fix common problems found in framework modules with the module verifier. [Understanding build product layout changes in Xcode](/documentation/Xcode/understanding-build-product-layout-changes) ### Build customization [Customizing the build schemes for a project](/documentation/Xcode/customizing-the-build-schemes-for-a-project) Specify which targets to build, and customize the settings Xcode uses to build, run, test, and profile those targets. [Customizing the build phases of a target](/documentation/Xcode/customizing-the-build-phases-of-a-target) Specify the tasks to perform during a build, including the source files to compile, the scripts to run, and the resources to include in the final product. [Creating build rules for custom file types](/documentation/Xcode/creating-build-rules-for-custom-file-types) Tell Xcode how to build your project’s custom file types, and provide dependency information to optimize the build process for each file. [Running custom scripts during a build](/documentation/Xcode/running-custom-scripts-during-a-build) Execute custom shell scripts during the build process, and run tools or other commands that your project requires. [Running code on a specific platform or OS version](/documentation/Xcode/running-code-on-a-specific-version) Add conditional compilation markers around code that requires a particular family of devices or minimum operating system version to run. ### Performance [Configuring your project to use mergeable libraries](/documentation/Xcode/configuring-your-project-to-use-mergeable-libraries) Use mergeable dynamic libraries to get app launch times similar to static linking in release builds, without losing dynamically linked build times in debug builds. [Improving the speed of incremental builds](/documentation/Xcode/improving-the-speed-of-incremental-builds) Tell the Xcode build system about your project’s target-related dependencies, and reduce the compiler workload during each build cycle. [Improving build efficiency with good coding practices](/documentation/Xcode/improving-build-efficiency-with-good-coding-practices) Shorten compile times by reducing the number of symbols your code exports and by giving the compiler the explicit information it needs. [Building your project with explicit module dependencies](/documentation/Xcode/building-your-project-with-explicit-module-dependencies) Reduce compile times by eliminating unnecessary module variants using the Xcode build system. ### Security and privacy [Verifying the origin of your XCFrameworks](/documentation/Xcode/verifying-the-origin-of-your-xcframeworks) Discover who signed a framework, and take action when that changes. [Enabling enhanced security for your app](/documentation/Xcode/enabling-enhanced-security-for-your-app) Detect out-of-bounds memory access, use of freed memory, and other potential vulnerabilities. [Creating enhanced security helper extensions](/documentation/Xcode/creating-enhanced-security-helper-extensions) Reduce opportunities for an attacker to target your app through its extensions. [Adopting type-aware memory allocation](/documentation/Xcode/adopting-type-aware-memory-allocation) Reduce the opportunities to treat pointers as data in your code. [Conforming to Mach IPC security restrictions](/documentation/Xcode/conforming-to-mach-ipc-security-restrictions) Avoid crashes and potentially insecure situations associated with Mach messages. --- Copyright © 2026 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. | [Terms of Use](https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/terms/site.html) | [Privacy Policy](https://www.apple.com/privacy/privacy-policy)