etcsbuild

etcsbuild is a cross-platform build automation tool designed to streamline the compilation, testing, and packaging of software projects that implement the European Train Control System (ETCS) specifications. The project aims to provide reproducible builds, fast iteration, and strong compatibility with modern continuous integration pipelines, particularly for embedded and safety-critical software used in railway signaling.

Key features include a declarative manifest that describes targets, dependencies, and build steps, along with support for incremental and parallel builds. It integrates with common toolchains and supports multiple languages frequently used in ETCS work, such as C, C++, Ada, and Rust. The system offers cross-compilation support for embedded targets and caching to reduce redundant work.

Etcsbuild is designed with a modular core and pluggable backends for file systems, test runners, artifact repositories, and environment management. Configuration is expressed in a machine-readable file (for example etcsbuild.yaml), detailing modules, dependencies, and partitions of the build graph. The tool emphasizes reproducibility by pinning toolchains and environments.

Developed by a community of engineers and researchers, etcsbuild is distributed as open-source software. The project maintains an issue tracker, a public code repository, and regular releases that include bug fixes, performance improvements, and new plugins.

In practice, etcsbuild is used to orchestrate large ETCS software stacks, integrate with CI/CD workflows, and support research projects exploring railway safety software. The ecosystem includes documentation, example configurations, and a growing set of plugins for testing, packaging, and deployment tasks.