Software Build Systems: Principles and Experience

Part IV. Scaling Up

Part IV examines what happens when your build system becomes large—for example, when you deal with software that has more than ten million lines of code, with potentially hundreds of developers adding new features. You’ll likely have one or more people maintaining the build system on a full-time basis. In this scenario, compiling the software becomes a major part of each developer’s day.

It’s an unfortunate reality, but the build system you first created when the software was small isn’t likely to scale over time. In the same way that your development team grew and changed to more effectively write new code, your build system must change. The assumptions you made when the software was small no longer make sense with ten million ...