Automatic Software Build via Package Similarity Analysis
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current static analysis systems face scalability bottlenecks when performing instrumented builds for large-scale software projects, as they require manual configuration and labor to set up build environments and identify build commands, making it impractical to automatically analyze thousands or tens of thousands of projects.
Innovation Solution
A source code analysis system automatically configures build environments and identifies build commands by leveraging machine-readable public packaging archives, computing similarity between project snapshots and available packages to apply relevant build instructions, enabling unsupervised automatic builds.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If manual configuration and labor are used to set up build environments and identify build commands, then build accuracy is improved, but scalability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system automatically discovers build commands and configures build environments by self-analyzing package repository metadata, build scripts, and project documentation without requiring manual human configuration. The build system instruments itself to trace and identify compilation processes, eliminating the need for external setup labor while maintaining accurate build execution.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary build instrumentation layer that sits between the build system and compilation processes. This intermediary automatically traces build commands, identifies source code files being compiled, and captures build metadata without requiring manual configuration. The instrumentation acts as a mediator that enables automatic discovery while maintaining build accuracy.
2Measurement precision
If instrumented builds are performed for thousands of software projects, then analysis accuracy is improved, but manual configuration burden increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system copies and reuses build configuration information from package repository metadata, existing build scripts, and project documentation. Instead of manually configuring each build environment, the system extracts and adapts configuration templates from publicly available package information, automatically populating build commands, dependencies, and environment settings for thousands of projects.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary analysis of package repositories, build scripts, and project documentation before actual builds are executed. The system pre-discovers build commands, pre-identifies source code files, and pre-configures build environments by analyzing metadata in advance. This preliminary action eliminates the need for manual configuration during the actual build process.
3Reliability
If build environments are manually set up for each project, then build reliability is improved, but automation capability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements feedback loops where build instrumentation captures actual build execution data, compares it against expected build configurations from package metadata, and automatically adjusts build settings to maintain reliability. The feedback mechanism monitors build success rates, traces compilation processes, and self-corrects configuration issues without manual intervention, maintaining reliable builds across automated large-scale operations.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for performing automatic builds of snapshots using software packages with highly similar contents. One of the methods includes computing, by a source code analysis system, a respective similarity score between contents of a particular snapshot and contents of each software package of a plurality of software packages in one or more package repositories. A highest-scoring software package for the snapshot is determined using the computed similarity scores. An automatic build of the snapshot using the highest-scoring software package is performed, including identifying one or more dependencies and one or more build commands from the highest-scoring software package, installing the one or more dependencies in a build environment of the snapshot, and executing the one or more build commands in the build environment of the snapshot.