Building a simple application requires no more than compiling it.
With large projects it is not as simple. A typical build process
includes several of the following steps:
Get the latest versions of source files from a version control
system.
Specify the build options and configurations.
Recompile the libraries and packages used by the application.
Build the application.
Create the installation packages.
Move the new build to a public location.
Send notifications that a new build is available.
Check for memory leaks and performance degradation.
Starting the testing process.
Create bug entries if any of the above steps fail.
Etc.
There are several ways to perform these tasks:
Manual builds. Building an application manually is
often a tedious and repetitious process, inefficient and prone
to errors. It is easy to make a mistake when performing the
build steps. For example, you may specify a wrong build version
number or compile the application with incorrect options.
Batch files. Creating batch files requires some expertise
at working on the command line. Also, batch files do not provide
an easy way to handle errors, monitor the current build status,
stop the build, etc. Finally, some tasks simply cannot be
accomplished on the command line.
Windows scripts. Creating a script routine (e.g. in
VBScript or JScript) to will perform the desired build steps
is not an easy task: you will have to write lots of code that
should not only perform the specific steps, but you also need
to control the build process, maintain the execution log,
handle errors, etc.
Batch files and scripts are simply not as powerful, flexible
or easy-to-use as the approach offered by Automated Build
Studio.
Automated Build Studio. With Automated Build Studio,
you can automate the build, test and release processes and
focus on more important issues. Using Automated Build Studio,
you spend your time on a task only once: when creating a
macro for that task. A macro includes individual operations
(Get
Latest Version from VSS, Compile Visual Studio .NET Project,
Send E-Mail, etc.) that let you perform each step of
the build process. Macros are created visually.
Once a macro is ready, you can run it either manually, or
automatically at a scheduled time or when a specific event
occurs.
By automating your builds with Automated Build Studio, you can —
Reduce the time and effort needed to create your application
builds.
Make the build logic easy to follow and maintain.
Avoid tedious, repetitive and error-prone work.
Keep a detailed log of macro runs and compare the results
automatically.
Get reliable builds of your software automatically at any
time.
Running macros at a scheduled
time allows you to introduce an
important software practice in your organization: automatic daily
builds of your applications. This practice can significantly
improve the effectiveness of development teams. Here are two excellent
articles by Joel Spolsky (of JoelOnSoftware.com)
that explain the benefits of daily builds:
With Automated Build Studio you are on the right path to implementing
automated daily builds of your software.
Macro runs triggered by an event allow you to go even further
in automating your builds. You can launch an approprite macro,
say, when a file of your project is checked in to a source code
control like Micrisoft Visual SourceSafe. This strategy, which
is called continuous integration, ensures that you have an up-to-date
tested build of your project at any time. More...
