<s>
BuildAMation	B-Application
(	O
Bam	O
)	O
was	O
a	O
desktop	O
multi-platform	O
free	B-License
and	I-License
open-source	I-License
software	I-License
system	O
for	O
writing	O
a	O
single	O
description	O
of	O
how	B-Application
to	I-Application
build	I-Application
software	I-Application
for	O
desktop	O
computers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
defines	O
an	O
extensible	O
architecture	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
C#	B-Application
,	O
exposing	O
a	O
declarative	O
syntax	O
to	O
describe	O
the	O
dependencies	O
between	O
build-able	O
modules	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
core	O
assembly	O
exposes	O
a	O
generic	O
dependency	O
system	O
,	O
while	O
packages	O
of	O
C#	B-Application
scripts	O
extend	O
support	O
into	O
multi-threaded	O
command	O
line	O
builds	O
,	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Visual	I-Application
Studio	I-Application
project	O
and	O
solution	O
generation	O
,	O
Apple	B-Operating_System
Xcode	I-Operating_System
project	O
and	O
workspace	O
generation	O
,	O
and	O
Makefile	O
generation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
BuildAMation	B-Application
supports	O
building	O
code	O
for	O
C/C	O
++	O
and	O
Objective	B-Language
C	I-Language
derivatives	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
BuildAMation	B-Application
is	O
extensible	O
by	O
means	O
of	O
defining	O
packages	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Packages	O
are	O
any	O
directory	O
containing	O
a	O
special	O
bam	O
folder	O
,	O
which	O
contains	O
files	O
that	O
BuildAMation	B-Application
uses	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
files	O
required	O
are	O
an	O
XML	B-Protocol
file	O
,	O
called	O
the	O
package	O
definition	O
file	O
,	O
which	O
resides	O
directly	O
in	O
the	O
bam	O
folder	O
,	O
which	O
describes	O
the	O
package	O
dependencies	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Also	O
,	O
in	O
a	O
Scripts	O
subdirectory	O
of	O
bam	O
,	O
there	O
are	O
C#	B-Application
files	O
that	O
expose	O
what	O
the	O
current	O
package	O
does	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Example	O
BuildAMation	B-Application
packages	O
provided	O
offer	O
support	O
for	O
various	O
compiler	O
toolchains	O
,	O
and	O
build	O
modes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Such	O
toolchains	O
are	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Visual	I-Application
Studio	I-Application
,	O
Clang	B-Application
for	O
Apple	O
,	O
GCC	B-Application
for	O
Linux	B-Application
,	O
and	O
multiple	O
versions	O
of	O
each	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Build	O
modes	O
define	O
how	O
BuildAMation	B-Application
generates	O
its	O
output	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Native	O
build	O
mode	O
runs	O
a	O
(	O
multi-threaded	O
)	O
command	O
line	O
build	O
,	O
whereas	O
the	O
VSSolution	O
build	O
mode	O
generates	O
a	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Visual	I-Application
Studio	I-Application
solution	O
and	O
projects	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Paths	O
in	O
BuildAMation	B-Application
scripts	O
use	O
macros	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
maintain	O
some	O
level	O
of	O
abstraction	O
and	O
reuse	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
BuildAMation	B-Application
provides	O
a	O
command	O
line	O
utility	O
called	O
bam	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Below	O
is	O
an	O
example	O
BuildAMation	B-Application
script	O
from	O
the	O
suite	O
of	O
test	O
packages	O
provided	O
with	O
the	O
release	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
generates	O
two	O
dynamic	O
libraries	O
written	O
in	O
C	B-Language
,	O
an	O
executable	O
that	O
uses	O
both	O
libraries	O
,	O
and	O
then	O
collates	O
the	O
three	O
binaries	O
into	O
a	O
directory	O
so	O
that	O
they	O
are	O
runnable	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
What	O
would	O
become	O
BuildAMation	B-Application
begun	O
development	O
in	O
2010	O
,	O
but	O
was	O
then	O
called	O
Opus	O
,	O
and	O
stored	O
in	O
Google	B-Protocol
Code	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
name	O
was	O
changed	O
in	O
2014	O
to	O
BuildAMation	B-Application
to	O
avoid	O
confusion	O
with	O
the	O
existing	O
Opus	O
Make	O
,	O
and	O
moved	O
to	O
a	O
GitHub	B-Application
project	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
incentive	O
for	O
BuildAMation	B-Application
was	O
to	O
overcome	O
several	O
obstacles	O
observed	O
by	O
Mark	O
Final	O
in	O
his	O
software	O
engineering	O
career	O
;	O
to	O
write	O
a	O
single	O
definition	O
of	O
how	B-Application
to	I-Application
build	I-Application
software	I-Application
but	O
make	O
use	O
of	O
a	O
variety	O
of	O
build	O
methods	O
;	O
to	O
use	O
a	O
real	O
programming	O
language	O
so	O
that	O
debugging	O
and	O
profiling	O
the	O
build	B-Application
system	I-Application
can	O
leverage	O
existing	O
technologies	O
,	O
developer	O
knowledge	O
,	O
and	O
tools	O
;	O
to	O
expose	O
common	O
compiler/linker	O
features	O
by	O
name	O
,	O
rather	O
than	O
having	O
to	O
recall	O
each	O
toolchain	O
syntax	O
.	O
</s>
