Software Build :
Software build is the process of converting the source files in to executables or software artifacts which can be deployed in different machine.
A simple software build comprises the below steps.
1. Fetch the Source files from the versioning system
2. Compile the Source code to make executable programs
3. Package the executables and the supported configuration files
4. Test case execution
5. Application deployment
The above steps are typically used for a simple build process. The number of build process steps and the order of execution of the steps vary depending on the functionality and complexity of the application.
In order to make these build process simple and easier to maintain, Build automation software’s are used in the Software build process. Typically the automation software’s used are ANT, Maven, Make file etc.
This tutorial describes the functionality and the usage of ANT build automation tool developed by James Duncan Davidson.
ANT (Another Neat Tool)
As described above, ANT is a build automation tool used in the software build process. Ant is developed using Java hence they are best suited for building Java based applications. Using ANT, you compile, package and execute Java applications. ANT can also be used for building C, C++ applications etc.
ANT build files are written in XML format.