What is the purpose of the Assemblies node in Web.Config?

Question

When creating a new ASP.NET AJAX Web Application in Visual Studio 2005, the default web.config contains the following section (inside the compilation node):

Answer 1

It may or may not be safely removed. The Assemblies node is for configuration-based reference addition. It's used by ASP.NET websites that deploy uncompiled .cs code files to their website, rather than (as sensible people do) compiled assemblies.

If you are deploying code-behind files to your website rather than assemblies, then keep it in. If you are deploying assemblies, remove it.

Answer 2

Rick Strahl's Web log has short but concisely explaining article on the subject.