I've been given an ASP.NET "Web Site" project and I'm putting together a continuous integration environment. Having worked with the "Web Application" project type exclusively I'm getting up-to-speed on what the "Web Site" project is all about.
From what I've gathered it's designed around "dynamic compilation" which happens when the application is loaded on the server (compared to the "Web Application" method of having the developer compile the app, and then deploy the compiled app to the server).
So, if I'm doing an automated build & deploy of the "Web Site" project, is it just a matter of checking out the latest code and parking it on the target server, can I run a compile against it just to make sure it actually compiles before deploying it?
Yes, you should compile it before you load it onto the server. Nothing is stopping you.
All you need to do it copy the files of the Web Site onto your server. Checking the code out isn't necessary. I'd label your code so you have a record of all the files as they were when you did deploy.