An installer is used to copy a software product onto a target system
and configure that system so that the software works correctly. This
can be a complex process and is normally done using a design tool.
The majority of installers that I have written were constructed using
InstallShield® tools from version 3 to 12, over the course of many
years! However, I have also constructed installers using the Microsoft®
Setup Toolkit for Windows® 3.x and using a text editor for variants
of Linux.
Software installers for Windows PCs are typically written to use the
Windows Installer Service or a proprietary engine, such as the
InstallScript® installer. While my favourite mechanism is the
InstallScript scripted installation, I have also created large projects
based on Merge Modules and an automated build system.
In some cases where incompatibilities have required a special solution,
I have created a two-layer setup, where an outer InstallScript setup
project, sometimes called a bootstrap or wrapper setup, is used to
drive multiple inner Windows Installer setups.