A project is a collection of related files and configuration settings that the CodeWarrior IDE uses to organize your software development.

Using projects allows you to avoid writing complicated build scripts (makefiles). Instead of editing build scripts, you can use simple mouse and keyboard operations to manipulate CodeWarrior projects.

You can use a single project to create and manage several configurations of your software for use on various computer platforms.

CodeWarrior terminology frequently uses the project-related terms defined in the following table.

Host	The system on which you run the CodeWarrior IDE to develop code. A sample host is a computer that runs the IDE on the Microsoft¨ Windows¨ operating system.
Platform target	The operating system, processor, or microcontroller for which you develop code. A sample platform target is a PowerPC computer that runs the Mac¨ OS operating system software.
Build target	The collection of settings and files that determines the contents of your code and the process by which the IDE compiles and links the code into a final output file. A sample build target is a debugging build target that includes specific debugging settings for a project.

In the CodeWarrior IDE, you can specify multiple build targets for a particular platform target.

For example, Figure 1.1 shows the organization of a project for a Windows platform target. The project includes the following items:

• a debugging build target of a software application
• an optimized release build target of the same software application