Agile Business Navigator

Today I have my software development hat on again. As I watch the build process churn, my past experience with software development builds runs through my mind.

One of my favorites was the build from hell. The developers would toss the source code in zip files over to the software integration team. The integrators would then put it all into a central directory, piece by piece. If the developer got it to build, he went home. Then they would build each part and place it in another directory. Then they took all the components and built the entire product. Again, the test was is if built, they were done. Next they hurled that over to the testing team. The following day, the testers would report the bugs back to the developers and the cycle would begin again.

That is if every step along the way worked, and it rarely did. Each piece would have to be rejected and returned back to the developers. Everyone hated one another, everyone hated their tasks.

Introducing an automatic build process was a lengthy task, and very rewarding. We tackled it like eating an elephant, one piece at a time. As we built a component's build process, we handed it over to its developer to maintain. As we created the testing process for their component, with their involvement, each person was in charge of their component's outcome. Developers didn't go home until their product built and tested. Integration didn't receive zip files, they received a completed, tested component with no errors. If it didn't pass, they didn't get a new one. No more throwing things back over the wall. Testing got a completed, tested product. They tested with a working product, one that did what we thought it should be doing, not what we hoped.

Is there anyone out there still running a build assembly without an automated process to complete it from start to finish? Do you still have sanity, and hair?

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