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

• distcc
• 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 Mac OS Classic and similar to but not compatible with Unix make; 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]
• Rake, a Ruby-based build tool
• Snakemake, a Python-based build tool
• ElectricMake, a replacement for make and gmake that implements build parallelization with ElectricAccelerator. Produced by Electric Cloud Inc.

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 project management and automated software build
• A-A-P, a Python based build tool
• Boost.Build from Boost C++ libraries
• 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 your build projects in a single application. Final builder also includes the ability the execute unit test, deploy web projects or install and test your application.
• Flowtracer
• Gradle, an open-source build and automation system with a Groovy Rake domain specific language (DSL), combining the advantages of Ant and Apache Maven with additional features like a reliable incremental build
• Grunt (http://gruntjs.com/), an open-source JavaScript-based build automation framework, which runs on Node.js
• 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
• Ninja, created in 2010 as a Make replacement to speedup Google Chrome compilation^[2] (can be used by CMake and GYP)
• Perforce Jam, a generally enhanced, ground-up tool which is similar to Make
• Psake, domain-specific language and build automation tool written in PowerShell
• sbt (Simple Build Tool), a build tool built on a Scala-based DSL
• SCons, Python-based, with integrated functionality similar to autoconf/automake
• Shake, Haskell based, embedded DSL
• Tup, Lua based, make-like DSL with a pure focus on speed and scalability
• 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
• Pants is a multi language supporting build tool (Java, Python, Scala) that is primarily aimed at a multiple project with interdependencies development environment. This system is in very early (beta?) release as of September 2014.
• TinyBuilder, a distributed build system designed to provide consistent build results.

Build script generation tools

• automake
• 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 Tools (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.
• Generate Your Projects (GYP) - Created for Chromium; it is another tool that generates files for the native build environment
• imake
• 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
• Automated BuildStudio, a system for automating and managing software build, test and deploy processes, with build scheduling and continuous integration support
• Apache Continuum
• 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
• Cascade, a continuous integration tool that builds and tests software components after each change is committed to the repository. Also provides a "checkpointing" facility by which changes can be built and tested before they are committed
• Continua CI a support for Visual Studio, MSBuild, Ant, Nant, Rake, FinalBuilder, Git, Hg, Svn, Perforce and many other tools, Continua CI has something for everyone.
• CruiseControl, for Java and .NET
• FinalBuilder Server, for Windows software developers. Provides a web based continuous integration tool for FinalBuilder projects.
• 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
• TeamCity
• Travis CI, a hosted continuous integration service

Configuration management tools

• Ansible (Python-based)
• CFEngine
• Chef (Ruby-based)
• Distelli
• Puppet (Ruby-based)
• Salt (Python-based)
• Urban Code

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