Design – Build – Run: Applied Practices and Principles for Production-Ready Software Development

Chapter 3. Preparing for "Production"

This chapter examines some of the key areas you should consider when setting up your software-development production line. With a well-oiled production line, you should be able to develop anything and get high quality products out the end. We're not concentrating so much on the final solution, although its size and scale will affect some of the decisions you make. As with any kind of manufacturing, you need the right raw materials, the right processing, and the right quality controls.

There are many processes that you need to establish before starting full-on production (e.g., development) to ensure that you are in a position to produce high quality outputs and I tend to use the word "defining" for a lot of the activities described. In the majority of cases, I am actually referring to "defining and implementing." As with most things in life, we're very often constrained by certain factors, and software development is no different. Aside from timescales and budgets, we can also be constrained by a particular methodology, technology, or policy, for example. When setting up your factory, you must understand whether there are any specific constraints that the production line must follow. If not, then you're free to implement your own. Think of these as the formal regulations for your production line. In the construction industry, buildings must be inspected at regular intervals. There may be regulations whereby your code will be inspected at regular ...