Continuous Integration: Improving Software Quality and Reducing Risk

Preface

Early in my career, I saw a full-page advertisement in a magazine that showed one keyboard key, similar to the Enter key, labeled with the word “Integrate” (see Figure P-1). The text below the key read, “If only it were this easy.” I am not sure who or what this ad was for, but it struck a chord with me. In considering software development, I thought, surely that would never be achievable because, on my project, we spent several days in “integration hell” attempting to cobble together the myriad software components at the end of most project milestones. But I liked the concept, so I cut out the ad and hung it on my wall. To me, it represented one of my chief goals in being an efficient software developer: to automate repetitive and error-prone ...