Non-Stop Continuous Integration Builds

OpenMake Meister provides a continuous integration server that can be configured to any versioning or source code management solution.  You can use Meister to initiate a build and workflow process upon a SCM check-in.  Meister's continuous integration server can be configured with quiet times and wait periods to meet your unique development needs.

But wait, Meister does not stop here. Meister enhances the continuous integration process by eliminating those frustrating broken continuous integration builds.  Meister does this by synchronize your individual IDE Build with the Continuous Integration running outside of the IDE.  Meister extends the IDE's automatic code creation features out to the build scripts for non-stop CI build support. For Java developers using popular IDEs such as Eclipse and IBM-RAD, this means that executing builds outside of the IDE is 100% consistent with the builds executed inside of the IDEs. So go ahead and refactor -Meister will update the build scripts for you.

Accelerated builds for Java

Only OpenMake Meister provides acceleration features for Java.  Many competing solutions will talk about how they speed up Java builds by allowing you to execute workflow tasks across multiple machines.  However, they cannot speed up the Java build itself. 

Meister can take your Java build and parallelize it using multi-core processing machines.  Meister understands all of the dependencies in your Java build and can determine which objects can be built in parallel. 

In addition Meister's uses build avoidance to re-build only those objects that are out of date.  Because Meister is automating and managing the calls to the compilers, it  can provide the acceleration in the build that competing tools cannot.  When using both parallelization and build avoidance Meister can turn builds that run 8 hours into builds that run as short as 10 minutes, OR LESS.

Adaptive Builds between IDE and CI Build

Meister directly benefits Java developers working in a team environment by synchronizing the individual developer's IDE build with the team build executed outside of the IDE in a continuous build process. Through this synchronization, Java developers are able to coordinate the introduction of changes into the build inside or outside of the IDE. Meister uses an innovative method of knowledge gathering to integrate builds and to predict build impact. Meister easily supports Lean Methodologies as well as those environments where the development to deployment lifecycle is strictly monitored and audited.

Pre-Commit Builds

Meister is unique in the way that it supports the pre-commit build process.  Unlike it's competitors who rely on creating a pre-commit process on a remote server, Meister allows you to run your pre-commit build,  on an incremental basis, right on your local machine.  In this fashion, your pre-commit build runs immediately and can be executed by simply clicking on a single option inside your IDE.  Meister does not need to spend time copying files and setting up a pre-commit build in some other location - it can do it right where you are working for the fastest results possible.   

Build Best Practices

Standardize the way your Ant build scripts are designed. With Meister's Build Services, you can write a single build script that will support hundreds of Jars, Wars and Ears in exactly the same way with no redundant scripting. Support your lean methodology techniques by eliminating the confusion and redundancies often found in ad hoc scripts. Write one script to support many builds versus one script to support one build.

Standardization of Dependencies and libraries 

Java developers often face challenges when attempting to manage the many 3rd party jar files that are needed to build their java application.  Meister allows you to standardize on the version and location where external libraries should be found and used.  This standardization can be integrated with your source code management tool so that your source repository manages the 3rd party components as well as your own source.

Refactoring Builds

Meister recognizes when a developer has refactored their code through the IDE.  Meister supports the refactoring process by automatically updating the build scripts to reflect the changes caused by the refactoring process.  Updates to the build scripts are done with a simple click of a button inside the development IDE through Meister plug-ins.

Multi-language Builds

As Java applications become more complex, it is not unusual for them to require calls to libraries written in standard C or C++. Meister can perform a build that will create, C, C++ or Java targets. This flexibility means that development teams no longer need to write one part of the build process in traditional Make and the Java portion in XML and ANT. Meister can handle multiple development tools in one build pass.

Management of Deployment Descriptors

IT professionals have learned that managing the deployment of JEE applications in large enterprise environments is a complex and expensive process. The expense comes from the technical complexity of deploying applications to multiple server environments where run-time parameters, contained within the Enterprise Application Archive (EAR) file must be uniquely configured for each server. With Meister, creating multiple deployment descriptors for a single application is substantially simplified through the use of the Deployment Descriptor Build Methods. Each Meister build can create multiple deployable EAR files, each containing the correct version of the Deployment Descriptor. For large enterprises, this ability is critical in order to avoid costly deployment mistakes or costly manual scripting to fix the problem.

Customization through the SDK, Plug-ins and Build Methods

Meister provides an open SDK that allows Java developers to customize the build process to fit their unique development needs. Meister supports a wide variety of development tools and compilers without any customization requirements using Plug-in. In addition, developers can write their own reusable Build Methods to standardize their build process according to their needs and demands.