I am developing a C++ application on Ubuntu. The application consists of several modules, each with its makefile.

I want to have a customised command line build process that does the following:

1. checks code out from a repository (for specified branch/tag)
2. builds the app (release or debug as specified)
3. logs any errors etc

I am too lazy to learn Perl (I tried before, but cant seem to get my head around it). Are there any (preferably open source) tools anyone can suggest, or maybe a simpler scripting languuage - or do I *really* have to learn Perl?