[Numpy-discussion] Buildbot for numpy

[Stefan van der Walt]

Hi all,

Short version
=============

We now have a numpy buildbot running at

http://buildbot.scipy.org

Long version
============

Albert Strasheim and I set up a buildbot for numpy this week.  For
those of you unfamiliar with The Buildbot, it is

"""
...a system to automate the compile/test cycle required by most
software projects to validate code changes. By automatically
rebuilding and testing the tree each time something has changed, build
problems are pinpointed quickly, before other developers are
inconvenienced by the failure. The guilty developer can be identified
and harassed without human intervention. By running the builds on a
variety of platforms, developers who do not have the facilities to
test their changes everywhere before checkin will at least know
shortly afterwards whether they have broken the build or not. Warning
counts, lint checks, image size, compile time, and other build
parameters can be tracked over time, are more visible, and are
therefore easier to improve.

The overall goal is to reduce tree breakage and provide a platform to
run tests or code-quality checks that are too annoying or pedantic for
any human to waste their time with. Developers get immediate (and
potentially public) feedback about their changes, encouraging them to
be more careful about testing before checkin.
"""

While we are still working on automatic e-mail notifications, the
system already provides valuable feedback -- take a look at the
waterfall display:

http://buildbot.scipy.org

If your platform is not currently on the list, please consider
volunteering a machine as a build slave.  This machine will be
required to run the buildbot client, and to build a new version of
numpy whenever changes are made to the repository.  (The machine does
not have to be dedicated to this task, and can be your own
workstation.)

We'd like to thank Robert Kern, Jeff Strunk and Gert-Jan van Rooyen
who helped us to get the ball rolling, as well as Neilen Marais for
offering his workstation as a build slave.

Regards
Stéfan