Overview of science-build-rules

science-build-rules is a suite of Python classes and utilities that make it easier to create automated builds with Spack, Singularity and Anaconda. It is designed to run with science-build-environment, but it can also be run independently. The basic structure is described below:

Typical build will do the following steps:

1. Read and validate configuration. This is done by the ConfReader-class.
2. Build the software based on build rules. This is done by subclasses of the Builder-class.
3. Test the installed software. This step is not yet implemented.
4. Deploy software from the build system into a target system with a desired deployment strategy. This is done by subclasses of the Deployer-class.

Idea in “build-rules” is that a series of operations is performed in a specific way, defined by the Builder-class and configuration files. Each subclass of Builder is tool specific, for example SpackBuilder creates builds with Spack. The user chooses the subclass of Builder designed for the tool they wish to use and modifies configuration files to match their needs.

Before doing a build, configuration files are loaded in and validated. The build and deployment commands, which are based on the configuration files, are then predefined and wrapped in subclasses of the Rule-class. Each subclass of Builder and Deployer can have their own configuration yaml-files and corresponding schemas.