If you have a tool that releases the software on-the-fly, you can start building improved versions on day one. Build tools accelerate your development speed tremendously.
Questions you can ask include:
- How have previous versions been built?
- Can you install the program out-of-the box or deploy it on a server yourself?
- Can you set up a dedicated environment for development?
- Does the program have features that would only work in production (e.g. on one specific server)?
We emphasize one-line installers, also for setting up servers and virtual machines.