Build Master, The: Microsoft’s Software Configuration Management Best Practices

Foreword

Since 1989, I’ve been consulting and doing architecture and programming work for various companies such as Microsoft, Intel, HP, and DreamWorks. Each of these companies has its own ways of managing the project, which includes how projects are planned, how code is written, how code is checked in (if it is at all), how the application is built, and how it is tested. It is clear to me that none of these companies has spent nearly enough time really thinking about and formalizing the process of building software. In fact, I’d say that this disorganization around the software process is the main reason why software never seems to ship on schedule and often ships years later than originally planned.

Although it is important that software companies ...