Similar to a git branch, those on paid tiers can now create branches of their projects in order to make different configurations for debug, test, production, etc. For example, in this video we create a main configuration for development and test purposes, and a child configuration for production purposes that doesn’t include test harnesses. We also show how packages added to the main configuration can be inherited by the children.

In this way, you need only centrally maintain one parent runtime, and let the children inherit, as appropriate.

Watch Next: How to build a custom runtime in 5 minutes?

At ActiveState, we use the Platform to build not only our popular open source language distributions, but also custom runtimes for our enterprise clients (i.e. builds containing just the language and packages their project requires). Try it out yourself or get a demo and understand how it can support your enterprise’s open source needs.

---

New to the ActiveState Platform? Here’s how to get started, once you’ve created your free account.

Use our Platform to build a custom runtime for your next project, including just the language and packages your project needs.

• Choose a language (Python, Perl or Tcl right now)
• Select your operating system (Linux or Windows, plus Mac for Python)
• Add the packages your project requires

ActiveState regularly pulls packages from each language’s standard open source repository (CPAN, PyPI, etc) to ensure that your open source language and components are up to date, can be compiled from source, and are then verified to work together in a distribution that is packaged for most major operating systems. Go ahead and try our beta today! We are hanging out at our Community Forum to provide support as you explore.

The ActiveState Platform is free for development use. Explore our paid plans for non-development use such as testing, production, and redistribution.