Automated Multi-Platform Build Environment for Software Applications
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Solution Overview
Problem
Software development environments face challenges in building and testing applications across multiple operating systems and architectures, requiring expertise from developers and being time and resource intensive, with manual processes being error-prone and lacking consistency.
Innovation Solution
An automated multi-platform build and test environment that uses a control process on a host platform to build and run software applications on both the host and remote platforms, capturing and storing build and run results in a centralized database, allowing for automated execution and result management across various platforms.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If manual building and testing is performed on multiple platforms, then build and test coverage across platforms is achieved, but time consumption and resource usage increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the build and test process into independent platform-specific build agents that can operate autonomously in parallel. Each agent handles a specific platform (Windows, Linux, macOS, etc.), allowing simultaneous execution across multiple platforms without requiring sequential manual intervention, thus maintaining comprehensive coverage while reducing total time consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a centralized build management system that acts as an intermediary between developers and multiple platform build agents. This mediator coordinates build requests, distributes tasks to appropriate platform agents, aggregates results, and provides unified interfaces, enabling automated multi-platform building without requiring developers to manually manage each platform separately.
2Reliability
If developers manually build and test on each platform, then platform-specific errors can be detected, but developer expertise requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The build system implements self-service capabilities where automated build agents independently execute compilation, linking, and testing procedures on each platform without requiring developer intervention. The system automatically configures platform-specific environments, selects appropriate build configurations, executes tests, and reports results, allowing error detection across platforms while eliminating the need for developers to possess expertise in each target platform.
Solution Approach 2:
The centralized build management system serves as an intermediary that abstracts away platform-specific complexities from developers. It manages platform configurations, toolchain settings, and build parameters automatically, allowing developers to trigger builds without needing to understand the intricacies of each target platform while still achieving comprehensive error detection.
3Productivity
If automated build systems are implemented across multiple platforms, then consistency and efficiency improve, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system architecture is segmented into independent, standardized build agents that each handle a specific platform. This modular design allows the system to scale to multiple platforms without proportionally increasing overall complexity, as each agent follows the same internal structure and can be managed independently. The segmentation enables parallel execution for improved productivity while maintaining manageable complexity through repetition of proven patterns.
Solution Approach 2:
The build management system implements a universal architecture where a single centralized manager can orchestrate builds across diverse platforms using a common interface and workflow. Platform-specific details are encapsulated within standardized agent modules, allowing the core system to remain simple while supporting multiple platforms. This multi-functionality approach enables efficient automated builds across platforms without requiring separate complex systems for each platform.
Data Source
AI summary
A system, method and program product for implementing an automated multi-platform build and run operation for a software application. A system is provided that comprises: a control process loadable on a host platform, wherein the control process causes the software application to be built and run on both the host platform and a set of remote platforms; and a results manager that captures build and run results from the host platform and the set of remote platforms, and stores the build and run results in a centralized database.