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Build automation is the practice ofbuilding software systems in a relatively unattended fashion. The build is configured to run with minimized or nosoftware developer interaction and without using a developer's personal computer. Build automation encompasses the act of configuring thebuild system as well as the resulting system itself.
Build automation encompasses both sequencing build operations vianon-interactive interface tools and running builds on a sharedserver.[1]
Build automation tools allow for sequencing the tasks of building software via a non-interactive interface. Abuild system orbuild automation tool[2] is atool orset of tools thatautomate thecompilation andlinking ofsource code into anexecutableprogram orlibrary. They streamline thesoftware development process by managing dependencies, resolving conflicts, and ensuring consistentbuilds across different environments.
When software projects grow complex, their build steps may involve multipleprogramming languages or compilation units, making manual build processes increasingly cumbersome. Dependencies between code components necessitate careful ordering and potentially different tools for each piece. Managing these dependencies manually can quickly lead to version conflicts, stale binaries, and difficulty tracking updates, making solutions such asshell scripts too difficult to maintain.[3]
While individual developers mightcompile code directly, a robust build system is foundational to efficient software development in large organizations and teams, whereautomated builds become commonplace and most builds are triggered automatically rather than manually.[4] Given the essential role of build systems, it is said that they act as "repositories of essential build knowledge".[5] They effectively eliminate roadblocks and accelerate development velocity by enabling engineers to share resources and results.[6]
An incremental build is a process within a build system where build tools use anincremental compiler torecompile only the parts of asoftware project that have changed since the last build, rather than rebuilding everything from scratch. This optimization reduces build time by leveraging dependency tracking,caching, and selective compilation.[7]
Incremental builds are especially valuable in large-scale software projects, where recompiling the entire codebase can be time-consuming and resource-intensive. By identifying and compiling only the modified components—such assource files,libraries, ormodules—the build system ensures faster iteration cycles, enabling developers to test anddebug changes more efficiently.
The process relies on adependency graph, which maps relationships between files, modules, or components in the project. When a change is detected, the build system traverses this graph to determine which parts of the project are affected and need to be recompiled. Modern build tools, such asMake,Gradle andBazel, often incorporate incremental build capabilities to streamline development workflows.[8][9]
While incremental builds offer significantperformance advantages, they also introduce challenges, such as ensuring the accuracy of dependency tracking and avoiding stale or inconsistent build artifacts. To address these issues, some build systems provide mechanisms for "clean builds," which rebuild the entire project from scratch to guarantee correctness when necessary.[10] Because of this issue, incremental builds are rarely used incontinuous integration systems, where correctness is preferred to compilation speed.[11]
Most build systems include features that make building large projects easier:
Tools such asMake can be used via custom configuration file or using thecommand-line. Custom tools such asshell scripts can also be used, although they become increasingly cumbersome as the codebase grows more complex.[12]
Some tools, such asshell scripts, are task-orienteddeclarative programming. They encode sequences of commands to perform with usually minimal conditional logic.
Some tools, such as Make are product-oriented. They build a product, a.k.a. target, based on configured dependencies.[13]
A build server is aserver setup to runbuilds. As opposed to apersonal computer, a server allows for a more consistent and available build environment.
Traditionally, a build server was a local computer dedicated as a shared resource instead of used as a personal computer. Today, there are manycloud computing,software as a service (SaaS)websites for building.
Without a build server, developers typically rely on their personal computers for building, leading to several drawbacks, such as (but not limited to):
Acontinuous integration server is a build server that is setup to build in a relatively frequent way – often on each codecommit. A build server may also be incorporated into anARA tool orALM tool.
Typical build triggering options include:
Automating the build process is a required step for implementingcontinuous integration andcontinuous delivery (CI/CD) – all of which consideredbest practice for software development.[14][how?]
Pluses of build automation include:[15]