Session I did at Microsoft Developer Days in 2009

1. If you build it, you’ll ship it
Dennis van der Stelt
Class-A

2. Agenda
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•
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What/Why about continuous integration
How to automate the build
Tools
Development process
• Anti patterns

3. what is
an automated build

4. Is more than CTRL+SHIFT+B or F5
Solves integration problems early
Eliminate repetitive tasks
Minimize “bad builds”
Improve product quality

5. What if
CTRL+SHIFT+B and XCopy
might seem enough?

6. What if
you don’t have
integration problems?

7. What if
setting up builds
costs time?

9. Don’t do this only
once a day…
do it continuously!

10. what is
continuous integration

11. Continuous integration
describes a set of software
engineering practices that speed
up the delivery of software by
decreasing integration times.

12. 5 steps to
continuous integration

13. source
control
repository

14. Source control repository
Team
Foundation
Server
SourceSafe
ClearCase
CVS
Subversion
(SVN)
JEDI
version control

15. Source control repository
project
branch
libraries
code
unit tests
branch

16. automate
the build

17. 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Clean up previous builds
• Decide whether you build from scratch
• prevents unexpected behavior
• rebuilds everything, every time
• will make the build take longer to complete
8

18. 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Get latest version
• Include everything
• Source code
• Libraries
• Database schema
• Build needs to be able to run on clean machine

19. 1
2
3
4
5
6
Increase version number
• Include version number in assemblies
• Decide whether you
• Increase all assemblies
• Increase only updated assemblies
7
8

20. 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Build & deploy database
• Create a new & fresh database
• Visual Studio DataDude
• Comes free now with developer edition
• Deploy test data for integration tests
• Usually takes a long time
• Option to do this only in nightly build
• Creating a large change script is a different story

21. 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Build the project
• Don’t build using an IDE like Visual Studio
• Rather use MSBuild, TeamBuild or a 3rd party lib.
• Don’t forget to automate
• Help files & documentation
• Installation files (setup.exe)
• Release notes

22. 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Run tests
• Compiling code doesn’t prove it works
• Unit tests do
• Although they’re no 100% safety net
• Run unittests continuously
• Integration tests only at night
• Try web tests and new Visual Studio 2010 abilities

23. 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Create deployment packages
• Create at least two deployment packages
• Make the build available to everyone
• Deploy websites to test server
• Deploy ClickOnce applications to test server
• Make iteration/milestone versions available
• Try to make automated rollback available

24. 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Don’t leave the build broken overnight
• Make sure you’re developing on a stable base
• Builds can break, but…
• not too often
• not during the night
8

25. 1
2
1a
3
1b
4
5
6
5a
7
5b
Nightly build
• Not everything has to run continuously
• Database deployment
• Slower integration tests
• Must be able to run full build manually
8
5c

26. the tools

27. Team Foundation Server
Has everything you need
• Source control
• Data collection
• Reporting
• Project tracking
• For collaborative development
• Supports CI since version 2008

28. MSBuild
Complex XML script based on
targets and tasks.
Requires additional open source
tasks for completeness.
TeamBuild
This is where Team Foundation
Server runs on. It’s MSBuild with
TFS integration.

29. FinalBuilder
Unified graphical
interface to author and
execute builds with
650+ actions to execute.
Integration with TFS
FinalBuilder Server
Continuous integration
server to accompany
FinalBuilder.

30. CruiseControl.NET
Opensource
continuous integration
server. Multiple
plugins available and
large userbase.

31. development
process

32. Development process
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Get latest version of integrated code
Add or change a feature
Build code & run tests locally
Get latest version & merge
Build code & run tests locally
Check-in source code
Verify automated build succeeds
Goto 1

33. Working with changesets
Class A
A
B
B
Class E
A
B
Class B
Class D
Class C
B
A
A
B
= Developer A
= Developer B

34. Some best practices
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Setup a build a.s.a.p!
Check-in as often as you can
Use a RAM disk to speed up the build
Use a Continuous Integration Token

35. benefits

36. Benefits of CI
• Reduced risk
• Confidence in frequent deployments
– New features more rapidly
– Better feedback on those features
• Better customer relations
• Improved team morale

37. anti patterns
in continuous integration

38. It’s an anti pattern to
delay check-ins and
create bottleneck
commits resulting in
going home late

39. Or from a different view,
having files checked out
overnight means
providing the
team with
coffee or cookies

40. It’s an anti pattern to
not to use feedback
of a broken build,
but don’t overdo it
resulting in ignoring
the notifications

41. And breaking the build will
make you buy cake
for the team…
… or wear the
bunny suit!

42. Conclusion
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Automate your build
Continuous Integration is the key!
Use the best tools available
It will save you time and money

43. Next steps…
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http://bloggingabout.net/blogs/dennis/
http://twitter.com/dvdstelt/
dennis@class-a.nl
Visit Devnology for discussions
Come to SDN Conference!
Try out Team System 2010

44. Thanks for attending
Dennis van der Stelt