CoDe Magazine - Article: Compilation and Deployment in ASP.NET 2.0

Full Pre-Compilation

The most common deployment scenario is full pre-compilation. In this model you use the ASPNET_COMPILER utility or the Web Site Publish feature inside of Visual Studio, which uses the same compilation APIs, to pre-compile your site in its entirety. This means that all markup pages (ASPX/ASCX/MASTER), CodeBeside classes, and all code in the APP_CODE directory are pre-compiled. The compiler takes the existing Web site and publishes the site to a new directory copying all files that relate to the Web sites including static files like images and CSS files. The compiler is essentially generating a complete copy of your Web site outputting a large number of compiled files in the BIN directory.