Shake [1] is a Haskell library for writing build systems. I've been trying it out on a small side project lately. It isn't mature so it doesn't do everything

Shake [1] is a Haskell library for writing build systems. I've been trying it out on a small side project lately. It isn't mature so it doesn't do everything you want, but the approach of supplying a library of build system construction tools instead of forcing you into a more rigid framework and/or DSL gives one a lot of flexibility. It seemed interesting and novel to me, but I don't know if it has been done before or not. Not having a configuration system is a big drawback, enough to make me consider using autoconf in conjunction with Shake. Also you have to know Haskell, which will turn a lot of people away. [1] http://hackage.haskell.org/package/shake http://hackage.haskell.org/package/shake