developing-buildpacks.html.md.erb

---
title: Developing Buildpacks
owner: Buildpacks
---

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Buildpacks enable you to packaging frameworks and/or runtime support for your application.
Cloud Foundry provides with system buildpacks out-of-the-box and provides an interface for customizing existing buildpacks and developing new ones.

##<a id="create-buildpacks"></a>About Customizing and Creating Buildpacks

If your application uses a language or framework that the Cloud Foundry system buildpacks do not support, do one of the following:

* Use a [Cloud Foundry Community Buildpack](https://github.com/cloudfoundry-community/cf-docs-contrib/wiki/Buildpacks).
* Use a [Heroku Third-Party Buildpack](https://devcenter.heroku.com/articles/third-party-buildpacks).
* Customize an existing buildpack or create your own [custom buildpack](./custom.html). 
A common development practice for custom buildpacks is to fork existing buildpacks and sync subsequent patches from upstream. 
For information about customizing an existing buildpack or creating your own, see the following:

    + <a href="./custom.html" class="subnav">Custom Buildpacks</a>
    + <a href="./depend-pkg-offline.html" class="subnav">Packaging Dependencies for Offline Buildpacks</a>

##<a id='maintain-buildpacks'></a> About Maintaining Buildpacks

After you have modified an existing buildpack or created your own, it is necessary to maintain it.
Refer to the following when maintaining your own buildpacks:

* <a href="./merging_upstream.html" class="subnav">Merging from Upstream Buildpacks</a>
* <a href="./upgrading_dependency_versions.html" class="subnav">Upgrading Dependency Versions</a>

<p class="note"><strong>Note</strong>: To configure a production server for your web app, see the <a href="./prod-server.html">Configuring a Production Server</a> topic.</p>