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 tools

• 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]

Non-Make-based tools

• 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
• Buck, a build system developed and used by Facebook
• b2 (or bjam), evolved from PerforceJam but is more powerful than make and is part of the Boost Project project. It can be used without all of Boost. It is called Boost.build
• Cabal, common architecture for building applications and libraries in the programming language Haskell
• 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 a Groovy-based domain specific language (DSL), combining features of Apache Ant and Apache Maven with additional features like a reliable incremental build
• IncrediBuild
• Leiningen, a tool providing commonly performed tasks in Clojure projects, including build automation
• MSBuild, the Microsoft build engine
• NAnt, a tool similar to Ant for the .NET Framework
• Octopus Deploy, an automated deployment and release management server for deployment of ASP.NET applications, Windows Services and databases
• Perforce Jam, a generally enhanced, ground-up tool which is similar to Make
• Psake, domain-specific language and build automation tool written in PowerShell
• Rake, a Ruby-based build tool
• sbt (Scala Build Tool), 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.
• 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 is a Python-based tool for configuring, compiling and installing applications. It is a replacement for other tools such as Autotools, Scons, CMake or Ant

Build script generation tools

• 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, a cross-platform tool that generates files for the native build environment, such as makefiles for Unix or Workspace files for Visual Studio
• 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 build system, a multi-platform build system optimized for performance and usability
• OpenMake Software Meister
• Premake, a Lua-based tool for making makefiles, Visual Studio files, Xcode projects, and more
• qmake

Continuous integration tools

• AnthillPro, build automation with pipeline support for deployment automation and testing. Cross-platform, cross-language
• Bamboo, continuous integration software
• Apache Continuum - discontinued
• 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
• Buildout, a Python-based build system for creating, assembling and deploying applications from multiple parts
• CABIE Continuous Automated Build and Integration Environment, open source, written in Perl
• CruiseControl, for Java and .NET
• DeployBot, a hosted continuous integration service
• Hudson, an extensible continuous integration engine
• Jenkins, an extensible continuous integration engine, forked from Hudson
• Team Foundation Server, an extensible continuous integration engine from Microsoft
• Visual Studio Team Services, provides Azure hosted build capabilities
• TeamCity
• Travis CI, a hosted continuous integration service
• Shippable, a hosted cloud platform that provides hosted continuous integration, deployment, and testing to GitHub and Bitbucket repositories

Configuration management tools

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

Meta-build tools

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
• Guix, functional package manager for the GuixSD Linux distribution
• Collective Knowledge, cross-platform package manager to rebuild software environment for research workflows

Other tools

• 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

Comparison of build automation software

References

External links

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