A Straightforward Build Tool

Release v0.6.0. (Installation)

This is a Python project that provides a tool for building software. It is language agnostic and works by allowing a user to specify the build tasks which should be performed, as is true of most build tools. You will need at least v3.9 of Python to run it.

There are two major reasons for writing this. Build tools like ant and gradle are plentiful but many are overly bloated. They come with tons of stuff that’s either unnecessary or overly generalized. They are prone to being convoluted to learn. I wanted something simple to maintain from a project and development workflow perspective. Under the simplest circumstances you might not even need a project file with this.

There are plenty of build related things this tool cannot do. If you run across those, I’m sure one of the others will suit you just fine. This one is really meant to be standalone or to play well with something simple like make at the top level of your build process. It is an attempt to have a straightforward build tool that is not over-engineered. The KISS principle reigns here.

Tasks support the notion of prerequisite tasks. For example, test type tasks usually require a compile type task to be performed first. Each language is responsible for providing this information for the tasks it publishes. The user has the ability to bypass this prerequisite task processing, if desired or necessary. It’s even possible that a language may make a task available that, in and of itself, does nothing but by virtue of its prerequisites causes other work to be done. A build task, for example, may cause compilation, testing, documentation and packaging tasks to be performed because they are prerequisites. This type of task is referred to as a pseudo-task. Obviously, disabling prerequisite processing and specifying a pseudo-task will accomplish nothing.

The tool also provides first class support for dependency management, the key reason for having any sort of non-trivial build tool in the first place. (Otherwise, a language’s CLI tools are usually fine.) This refers to satisfying the need for libraries, APIs and such that are needed to build a given piece of software, including any libraries those libraries or APIs need. Dependencies are scoped to task names as it is reasonable, say, for a compile task to require fewer dependencies than a package task.

The Builder Tool User’s Guide

This part of the documentation covers basic concepts, project structure requirements, languages and the use of the builder command line interface.

Contents:

• Installation of the Builder Tool
  • $ pip install builder-tool
  • Get the Source Code
• Builder Tool Overview
  • Languages
  • Dependencies
  • Projects
• Builder Tool Projects
  • The info Object
  • The dependencies Object
  • The vars Object
  • The conflicts Object
  • The conditions Object
• Using the CLI

The Languages Guide

This part of the documentation covers each supported language, its configuration and operation within the builder tool.

Contents:

• Java Language Support
  • Project Directory Structure
  • Language Tasks
  • Language Configuration
  • test Task Configuration
  • package Task Configuration

The Languages Extension Guide

This part of the documentation covers what it takes to provide support for a language in the builder tool.

Feel free to Search Page the documentation if you’re looking for something specific.