"Many people use a Makefile and shell scripts to automate tasks
where a change to a file requires an action to be taken. You edit a
file and then invoke make in the hope that all actions necessary to
effect the changes are done. Often you need to tweak the Makefile
to get it right and end up using touch to work around a missing
dependency. As a result, when other people look at your carefully
tuned Makefile, they have a hard time understanding how it
works.
"These tasks can be done more easily and reliably with Aap than
with make. For example, Aap has built-in Internet support.
Downloading and uploading is taken care of without the need to
specify the commands or to keep timestamp files. Reliability is
achieved by figuring out dependencies automatically and using
signatures instead of timestamps. With Aap it is simpler to specify
the work you want done, and you make fewer mistakes..."