Set a variable: SET FOO="bar"

Refer to a variable: echo %FOO%

Command line arguments are variables %1, %2 etc.

Check if a variable is defined: IF NOT DEFINED FOO SET FOO="bar". Useful for testing command line arguments.

Check a result code from the last executed command: IF ERRORLEVEL $n $CMD-TO-EXECUTE. It executes the command if result code is equal or greater to $n, so to check for any failures use 1.

Do things in a loop: FOR /L %A IN (1,1,10) DO @echo hello

Execute another script: call another.bat

Check if directory exists: IF EXIST E:\NUL GOTO USE_E

Here's an example of a batch file that does a few common things:

@ECHO OFF
@rem "pushd $dir" puts $dir on directory stack
pushd .
SET COMMENT=%1
IF NOT DEFINED COMMENT SET COMMENT=""

SET FOO="bar"

IF %FOO%=="bar" goto IS_BAR
echo The above should always be true
goto END

:IS_BAR
nmake -f Makefile.vc
IF ERRORLEVEL 1 goto ERR_ONE_OR_HIGHER
echo Compilation successful!
goto END

:ERR_ONE_OR_HIGHER
echo Compilation failed!
goto END

:END
@rem popd pops the directory name from the stack and does cd there
popd