It is common for current software to consist of multiple languages, and deployed for multiple architectures. Build and release systems need to be flexible enough to incorporate new technologies, all the while, keeping the system easy to use for software engineers. This workshop will focus on one python-based build system that meets these requirements.

In this workshop, you will have the hands on opportunity to learn, “waf”, a modular based build system that was adopted at Weta Digital, which needed a highly flexible system, capable of adjusting quickly, to produce Visual Effects applications for the film industry.

This workshop will begin with performing deployment of a python-only project, which will include automated testing, generation of documentation, code validation, and software packaging. The workshop will progress onto multi-language projects, showing how easy it is to include compiled languages. Final topics include enhancing waf to meet your company’s deployment requirements. Film industry anecdotes will be peppered throughout the workshop, giving examples of the importance of a good build system.

Intended audience:

This workshop is for anyone interested in simplifying software development, by providing teams a single interface to perform development, testing, documentation, and deployment operations. This workshop is also for people interested in adopting or migrating to new technologies, such as continuous integration systems, since we will cover this and other infrastructure-related topics.

Attendees will need:

You’ll need a laptop that you can develop on (with permission to install applications/packages). You will need basic skills in using the command-line of your favourite OS, in order to perform build operations from a shell. The tutorial will include a hands-on opportunity to edit build scripts using your favourite text editor.