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If you were starting a new software development team today, could you imagine one of the 'to do' list items being 'build our own source code management system'? It's unlikely that anyone would dream of building their own SCM system today: there are multiple open source and commercial SCM systems available to meet all possible needs.
But the same can't be said for build and release management where most organizations handle these processes with manual, script-driven systems. It's ironic because the most widely used build tool, Make, was created around the same time in the early 1970s as the first SCM tool, SCCS, yet build and release management has lagged behind.
In the intervening 30 years SCM has progressed from simple tools to complex, commercial products as software projects have grown in size and complexity. Build and release management has only recently caught up with the release of suites of tools that simplify and improve the entire process. These tools mean that build managers no longer have to create build systems from scratch, nor are they saddled with ongoing maintenance costs for home grown systems.
This paper looks at the needs of build and release management, how those needs are met by open source and commercial tools that go way beyond the likes of Make or Ant, and the real costs of creating and maintaining a homegrown system.
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