In software development, a neutral build is a software build that reflects the current state of the source code checked into the source code version control system by the developers, and done in a neutral environment (an environment not used for development).
A nightly build is a neutral build that takes place automatically. These typically take place when no one is likely to be working in the office so that there are no changes to the source code during the build. The results of the build are inspected by the arriving programmers, who generally place a priority on ensuring the recent changes to the source code have not broken the build process or functionality of the software.
When someone says a developer "broke the build", they are effectively saying that a developer checked in code which might very well have compiled (and hopefully also run properly) in their account, but does not compile (and therefore, cannot be run) in anyone else's account. This is typically due to additional developer-specific changes that were either not checked in, or (in the case of environment variables, etc.) were modifications to systems not under revision control. One of the most common cases is remembering to check in all modified files, but forgetting to add newly created files to the repository. If the other developers check out the new code without being aware of the problem, their work may grind to a halt while they wait for the problem to be fixed (or try to fix it themselves, which can be even more problematic, if multiple developers attempt to fix the issue at the same time). This naturally can result in a significant loss of productivity.
Neutral builds are important for software development processes running at high loads with short schedules (see extreme programming, startup); not having them means that any build that needs to be created for the software quality assurance department has to be created using code which may be in the middle of major modifications, and which would best be left out of a build for testing (particularly a build being evaluated for possible release).
Read more about Neutral Build: Hazards
Famous quotes containing the words neutral and/or build:
“The lonely Earth amid the balls
That hurry through the eternal halls,
A makeweight flying to the void,
Supplemental asteroid,
Or compensatory spark,
Shoots across the neutral Dark.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Our decision about energy will test the character of the American people and the ability of the President and the Congress to govern this nation. This difficult effort will be the “moral equivalent of war,” except that we will be uniting our efforts to build and not to destroy.”
—Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)