Any existing pure PHP "make" tools?

Question

Let me elaborate on the question...

I have a custom CMS (built on codeigniter FTW) that includes many different types of modules.

Every time we have a new project come through the door, it is a variation and amalgamation of a few of the existing modules.

Sometimes a project comes through with requirements that are not satisfied by the existing modules, in that case I will write a new module...

All the modules are separated out in folders and the code is VC-ed using GIT. Every module has it's own Model, View, Controller, SQL and Javascript files. All the dependencies are also separated and folder-ed nicely...

The next step for me is to create some sort of installer script that will take me through the "scaffolding" process step by step, allowing me to choose from the existing modules. A glorified "makefile" if you may...

Rather than rolling my own, does anyone know of any such thing out in the wild.

I know of Apache ANT (java), what I need is something in pure PHP with very low or no dependencies...

I would like something as simple as running a git pull and then php make.php

Thanks.

Answer 1

The "Ant-like" alternative I am aware of in PHP land is phing it is written in PHP and it will allow you to perform several tasks for packaging, deploying and testing your web applications. The documentation is a great starting point if you want to hit the ground running.

It is can also be extended to define new tasks if needed (examples and explanations are provided in the documentation)

Reading through the doco it appears to be possible to install Phing without PEAR as documented here you would have to correctly setup the environment on each machine you wish to use Phing on. I can not confirm this method though as I use PEAR for all my installs.