> Can you make a build in one step? vs
> Are all builds handled automatically by a Continuous Integration server?Are two very different indicators. And both are, least in my mind, equally important.
One measure the holistic approach to source code including everything necessary to produce a functional system. Checkout, build, use. The other is a measure of how much care is given to the overall process of software engineering. How much automation the tests receive, how much attention is given to deployment etc. Software construction must be tied intimately with the software code itself for thousands of good reasons. Too many times have I seen a team jump onto the CI bandwagon; abandoning all notions of build scripts to let this new shiny thing perform it's magical incantations to build and package the system. A checkout alone is no longer sufficient to gain a fully functional system one can test locally, the CI becomes in an integral part of the software code but without the process the rest of the code receives (reviews, versioning, source control etc). With the multiplication of commercial tools flaunting how easy it is to automate all this that one does not even need a programmer anymore, I fear software construction will become harder and harder to do without the help of these external systems. So yes, do team have a single operation to build (that is construct) a workable system is still very much relevant. And yes, do team use continuous integration to automate their test and delivery process is also important. |