Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 3
Quality means doing it right when no one is looking.
—H
ENRY
F
ORD
Things will always go wrong on a project. By effectively practicing
CI, you find out what at every step along the way—rather than late into
the development cycle. CI helps you identify and mitigate risks when
they occur, making it easier to evaluate and report on the health of the
project based on concrete evidence. How much of the software have
we implemented? Answer: Check the latest build. How much test cov-
erage do we have? Answer: Check the latest build. Who checked in the
latest code? Answer: Check the latest build.
In this chapter, we cover risks that CI can mitigate, such as late dis-
covery of defects, lack of project visibility, low-quality software, and
the inability to create deployable software.
Most teams begin with good intentions, yet some are overwhelmed
with problems on their projects.
These problems are a result of not
managing risks.
As I mentioned earlier in the topic, we don't often
hear development groups say, “We think testing and code reviews
(paired or otherwise) are bad practices.” Yet, when affected by sched-
ule pressure, these are usually the first practices a team will skip. This
chapter focuses on the software risks you can reduce using different
aspects of CI. By using CI, you can build a “quality safety net” and
deliver software faster. When you press the “Integrate button” at every
change, you build a foundation for reducing risks early and often, as
indicated in Figure 3-1.
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