Editing Package manager (section)

==Comparison with build automation utility==
Most [[software configuration management]] systems treat building software and deploying software as separate, independent steps.
A [[build automation]] utility typically takes human-readable [[source code]] files already on a computer, and automates the process of converting them into a binary executable package on the same or remote computer.
Later a package manager typically running on some other computer downloads those pre-built binary executable packages over the internet and installs them.

However, both kinds of tools have many commonalities:
*The [[dependency graph]] [[topological sorting]] used in a package manager to handle dependencies between binary components is also used in a build manager to handle the dependency between source components.
*Many [[makefile]]s support not only building executables, but also installing them with <code>make install</code>.
*Every package manager for a [[:Category:Source-based Linux distributions|source-based distribution]] {{ndash}} [[Portage (software)|Portage]], [[Sorcery (package manager)|Sorcery]], [[Homebrew (package management software)|Homebrew]], etc. {{ndash}} supports converting human-readable source code to binary executables and installing it.

A few tools, such as [[Maak]] and [[A-A-P]], are designed to handle both building and deployment, and can be used as either a build automation utility or as a package manager or both.<ref>Eelco Dolstra, [https://nixos.org/~eelco/pubs/iscsd-scm11-submitted.pdf "Integrating Software Construction and Software Deployment"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190921030912/https://nixos.org/~eelco/pubs/iscsd-scm11-submitted.pdf |date=21 September 2019 }}.</ref>