List of build automation software

Build automation involves scripting or automating the process of compiling computer source code into binary code. Below is a list of notable tools associated with automating build processes.

Make-based

• GNU make, a widely used make implementation with a large set of extensions
• make, a classic Unix build tool
• mk, developed originally for Version 10 Unix and Plan 9, and ported to Unix as part of plan9port
• MPW Make, developed for the classic Mac OS and similar to but not compatible with Unix make; the modern macOS (OS X) comes with both GNU make and BSD make; available as part of Macintosh Programmer's Workshop as a free, unsupported download from Apple
• nmake
• PVCS-make, basically follows the concept of make but with a noticeable set of unique syntax features^[1]

Make-incompatible

• Apache Ant, popular for Java platform development and uses an XML file format
• Apache Buildr, open-source build system, Rake-based, gives full power of scripting in Ruby with integral support for most abilities wanted in a build system
• Apache Maven, a Java platform tool for dependency management and automated software build
• ASDF LISP buildsystem for building LISP projects
• A-A-P, a Python-based build tool
• Bazel, Google's own build tool, now publicly available in Beta.
• BitBake, a Python-based tool with the special focus of distributions and packages for embedded Linux cross compilation
• Boot, a Java build and dependency management tool written in Clojure
• boost.buildFor C++ projects, cross-platform, based on it Perforce Jam.
• Buck, a build system developed and used by Facebook
• Buildout, a Python-based build system for creating, assembling and deploying applications from multiple parts
• Cabal, common architecture for building applications and libraries in the programming language Haskell
• Cake, is a cross-platform build automation system with a C# DSL for tasks such as compiling code, copying files and folders, running unit tests, compressing files and building NuGet packages
• FinalBuilder, for Windows software developers. FinalBuilder provides a graphical IDE to both create and run build projects in a single application. Final builder also includes the ability the execute unit test, deploy web projects or install and test applications.
• Flowtracer
• Gradle, an open-source build and automation system with an Apache Groovy-based domain specific language (DSL), combining features of Apache Ant and Apache Maven with additional features like a reliable incremental build
• Grunt, a build tool for front-end web development
• Gulp, another build tool for front-end
• IncrediBuild
• Leiningen, a tool providing commonly performed tasks in Clojure projects, including build automation
• Mix, the Elixir build tool
• MSBuild, the Microsoft build engine
• NAnt, a tool similar to Ant for the .NET Framework
• Ninja, a small build system focused on speed by using build scripts generated by higher-level build systems
• Perforce Jam, a generally enhanced, ground-up tool which is similar to Make
• PHing, a PHP build system modeled after Apache Ant
• Psake, domain-specific language and build-automation tool written in PowerShell
• Qt Build System
• Rake, a Ruby-based build tool
• sbt, a build tool built on a Scala-based DSL
• SCons, Python-based, with integrated functionality similar to autoconf/automake
• Stack, a tool to build Haskell projects, manage their dependencies (compilers and libraries), and for testing and benchmarking.
• Tup, c-based, fast, not domain specific
• Tweaker, allowing task definitions to be written in any languages (or intermixed languages) while providing a consistent interface for them all
• Visual Build, a graphical user interface software for software builds
• Waf, a Python-based tool for configuring, compiling and installing applications. It is a replacement for other tools such as Autotools, Scons, CMake or Ant
• Pynt, a lightweight Python build tool. Build tasks are Python functions with declarative dependencies between the tasks.

Build script generation

These generator tools do not build directly, but rather generate files to be used by a native build tool (as the ones listed in the previous two chapters).

• BuildAMation, a multi-platform tool, using a declarative syntax in C# scripts, that builds C/C++ code in a terminal using multiple threads, or generates project files for Microsoft Visual Studio, Xcode or MakeFiles.
• configure
• CMake generates files for various build tools, such as make, ninja, Apple's Xcode, and Microsoft Visual Studio.^[2] CMake is also direcly used by some IDE as Qt Creator^[3] and GNOME Builder^[4].
• GNU Build System (aka autotools), a collection of tools for portable builds. These in particular include Autoconf and Automake, cross-platform tools that together generate appropriate localized makefiles.
• GYP (Generate Your Projects) - Created for Chromium; it is another tool that generates files for the native build environment
• imake
• Meson, a build system optimized for performance and usability is based on ninja on Linux, Visual Studio on Windows and Xcode on macOS. Meson is also directly used by GNOME Builder.^[4]
• OpenMake Software Meister
• Premake, a Lua-based tool for making makefiles, Visual Studio files, Xcode projects, and more
• qmake

Continuous integration

• AnthillPro, build automation with pipeline support for deployment automation and testing. Cross-platform, cross-language
• Apache Continuum - discontinued
• Bamboo, continuous-integration software
• Buildbot, a Python-based software development continuous-integration tool which automates the compile/test cycle
• BuildIT, a free graphical build or task tool for Windows with an emphasis on simplicity and ease of use
• CABIE Continuous Automated Build and Integration Environment, open source, written in Perl
• CruiseControl, for Java and .NET
• Go continuous delivery, open source, cross-platform
• GitLab, continuous integration and git server
• Hudson, an extensible continuous-integration engine
• Jenkins, an extensible continuous-integration engine, forked from Hudson
• TeamCity
• Team Foundation Server, an extensible continuous-integration engine from Microsoft
• Travis CI, a hosted continuous-integration service
• Visual Studio Team Services, provides Azure-hosted build capabilities
• FlexDeploy, CI/CD tool from Flexagon.

Configuration management

• Ansible (Python-based)
• CFEngine
• Chef (Ruby-based)
• Distelli
• LCFG
• OpenMake Software Release Engineer
• Otter
• Puppet (Ruby-based)
• Salt (Python-based)
• Rex (Perl-based)

Meta-build

A meta-build tool is capable of building many different projects using a subset of existing buildtools. Since these usually provide a list of packages to build, they are also often called package managers.

• Pkgsrc, package manager of NetBSD and other operating systems.
• Portage, package manager of the Gentoo Linux distribution
• Nix, functional package manager for the NixOS Linux distribution focusing on reproducible builds
• Guix, functional package manager for the GuixSD Linux distribution, based on Nix.
• Collective Knowledge, cross-platform package manager to rebuild software environment for research workflows

Others

• checkinstall, checkinstall is a program that monitors an installation procedure, and creates a standard package for your distribution.
• Open Build Service, a hosted service to help build packages for various Linux distributions

Licensing overview

References

External links

• List of build automation software on Software Wiki, an external wiki