a little madness

Possibly the most common myth around Continuous Integration (CI) is the idea that if you have an automated build server, then you are doing CI. In fact, a build server is just a tool to help you achieve part of CI: automated builds on an independent machine. This is not even the most important aspect of CI, which is really all about fast feedback. Even with a build server, you aren’t doing CI if:

• Developers don’t check in regularly (aim for daily or better).
• The build is too slow.
• You have no automated test suite or one with insufficient coverage.
• Broken builds are ignored.

When you are starting out, getting the build automated and a build server running are great first steps. But don’t forget to tackle the simultaneously more difficult and more rewarding part: cultural change. The team needs to see the value of fast feedback and be dedicated to improving its quality and frequency.

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Hey! Why not give Pulse 2.0 (beta) a spin — it’s free for small teams, open source projects, and free to evaluate for everyone else!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 11th, 2008 at 10:57 am and is filed under Agile, Continuous Integration, Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.