Buildout is a deployment automation tool written in and extended with Python
Buildout
… image:: https://github.com/buildout/buildout/actions/workflows/run-tests.yml/badge.svg
:alt: GHA tests report
:target: https://github.com/buildout/buildout/actions/workflows/run-tests.yml
Buildout is a project designed to solve 2 problems:
Application-centric assembly and deployment
Assembly runs the gamut from stitching together libraries to
create a running program, to production deployment configuration of
applications, and associated systems and tools (e.g. run-control
scripts, cron jobs, logs, service registration, etc.).
Buildout might be confused with build tools like make or ant, but
it is a little higher level and might invoke systems like make or
ant to get its work done.
Buildout might be confused with systems like puppet or chef, but it
is more application focused. Systems like puppet or chef might
use buildout to get their work done.
Buildout is also somewhat Python-centric, even though it can be
used to assemble and deploy non-python applications. It has some
special features for assembling Python programs. It’s scripted with
Python, unlike, say puppet or chef, which are scripted with Ruby.
Repeatable assembly of programs from Python software distributions
Buildout puts great effort toward making program assembly a highly
repeatable process, whether in a very open-ended development mode,
where dependency versions aren’t locked down, or in a deployment
environment where dependency versions are fully specified. You
should be able to check buildout into a VCS and later check it out.
Two checkouts built at the same time in the same environment should
always give the same result, regardless of their history. Among
other things, after a buildout, all dependencies should be at the
most recent version consistent with any version specifications
expressed in the buildout.
Buildout supports applications consisting of multiple programs,
with different programs in an application free to use different
versions of Python distributions. This is in contrast with a
Python installation (real or virtual), where, for any given
distribution, there can only be one installed.
To learn more about buildout, including how to use it, see
https://www.buildout.org/.
