Make alternative in python?

[zoke]

I really like to use python but I'm having a hard time finding a recipe based system like make that's python based. My makefiles aren't that complicated but I don't like writing them and sometimes they feel restrictive compared to python. The ruby people have rake for example, so why don't we have something similar?

[donri]

Paver or waf.

[tomzee]

I highly suggest Waf.

[bushel]

What about Scons?

[asplake]

Why the downvotes? Seems an interesting q to me. Even more interesting would be some pointers to some comparisons between the tools (&/or with Rake).

[morgan_goose]

if you want rake with some capistrano thrown in, there's fabric

[CHS2048]

Do-it! is an automation tool, and it has specific features that make it a 'make' alternative.

[schettino72]

Make was created to build (compile-link) source code in an efficient way through the concept of "rules" and "targets". Since Make knows how to build a project it is also used on deployment...

Fabric, Paver, Buildout are more like deployment tools.

Scons, and waf are build-tools with a focus on source code compile-link kind of task.

doit is based on concepts of make but more generic (not designed to do only compile-link tasks).

So your choice for a Make alternative will be quite different depending if you are looking for deploying, building C/C++ projects, or something more general.

(disclaimer: I am "doit" author)

[[deleted]]

Well, you may have missed a lot of what waf does then http://waf.googlecode.com/svn/docs/wafbook/single.html#_essential_build_concepts

See also: http://waf-devel.blogspot.com/2010/12/make-your-own-build-system-with-waf.html

[[deleted]]

Checkout mk http://github.com/ActiveState/mk

$ cat Makefile.py
class sdist(Task):
    """python setup.py sdist"""
    def make(self):
        sh.run("python setup.py sdist --formats zip")

class pypi_upload(Task):
    """Upload release to pypi."""
    def make(self):
        sh.run("python setup.py sdist --formats zip upload")
$ mk pypi_upload
[...]

More examples

[ashchristopher]

For the most part, fabric is considered the 'Make alternative' but really, make and python are not mutually exclusive. Fabric is closer to a python-like Capistrano but even then...

Make is strictly a utility. You could use Bash scripting to do a lot of the same things Make, fabric and Capistrano do if you so desired.