Can BuildForge do what Hudson CI is currently doing?

Question

I am looking for a comparison between IBM Build Forge (Rational) and Hudson CI.

At work we have full licenses for BuildForge but recently we started using Hudson for doing continuous integration and automating other tasks.

I used BuildForge very little and I would like to see if there are any special advantages of BuildForge over Hudson.

Also it would be very helpful to see a list of specific advantages of Hudson over BuildForge.

I not sure if it important or not, but I found interesting that Build Forge is not listed under continuous integration tools at wikipedia.

Answer 1

You can use RAFW (IBM Rational Automation Framework for WebSphere) with BuildForge. It does not make sense to use RAFW with other ci servers, since RAFW requires BuildForge.

You have support for BuildForge and it integrates with other IBM software like ClearCase. Theoretically you have only to deal with one vendor if something in the chain does not work, but IBM has different support teams for their products and you might become their ping pong ball. :(

Hudson is open source (if you like that), that means you can get the source and modify it to serve you better. But the release cycle is very short (about 1 week, agile development). There is a more stable version with support available now (for cash of course) from the company of the main author of Hudson.

Hudson is currently main stream and is actively developed. I don't know how the usability of BuildForge is, but Hudson is good (not always perfect). The plugin concept of Hudson is a great plus, not sure if BuildForge has it as well.

Currently, we are using Hudson, but BuildForge was not looked at in detail.

Answer 2

You need to define what you would need continuous integration for (e.g. building, testing). Having used Hudson, I can vouch for its usefulness and effectiveness. There are many plugins that extend Hudson that can suit various needs. And you can't beat the price point (free).

You need to inquire as to why a BuildForge license was obtained at your place of employment. Perhaps someone on your team knows why this was done. If it isn't necessary for your needs, don't renew your BuildForge license and simply continue using Hudson.