Too Frequent Continuous Integration Build Failures?

Too Frequent Continuous Integration Build Failures?

• 1.
  Too Frequent CI BuildFailures? What can ‘YOU’ do about them? Vivek Ganesan | Gainsight
• 2.
  Running Jenkins isNOT Continuous Integration! Tools that you use != What you do. How do you use the tools? = What you do.
• 3.
  Then, What isCI? For Continuous Integration to be useful, following are ‘Mandatory’ ➔ Continuous Never ending. May be periodical. Good to start with daily frequency. ➔ Integration Different teams’/people’s codes are integrated and tested ➔ Stimulus - Response The adrenaline rush and events that follow any build failure to bring it back to green
• 4.
  Have you everobserved what happens during the Stimulus- Response? Tip You can effectively observe only when you do not have stakes in something. If you have stakes, you get ‘involved’ instead of studying what happens.
• 5.
  Blame Game, Mostly! ●Raj broke the build. What a careless guy! ● Why should I fix it? It is Raj who broke the build! ● Dear Boss, I am BLOCKED until Raj fixes the build. Why should I suffer for someone else’s mistakes? -The Escalator ● Poor soul Raj! He needs some more training. ● Raj, you are a good developer. But, you could have done better at avoiding some build failures this year!
• 6.
  How does this ADVERSELY AFFECTRaj & the organization?
• 7.
  What happens tothe following in this situation? ● Commit frequency ● Size of each commit ● Ability to take risks ● Willingness to face uncertainty ● Bug count ● General motivation ● Anything else that we don’t know about?
• 8.
  Does Raj reallyhave FULL control on whether his commit breaks the build or not? Tip Contrary to the popular belief, the build does not have to be green all the time. However, the intention & action to keep it green must be present all the time.
• 9.
  Code Commits &Roads Code commits are very similar to driving a car into a converging road.
• 10.
  Code Commits &Roads Code commits are very similar to driving a car into a converging road. Your Commit
• 11.
  Code Commits &Roads Code commits are very similar to driving a car into a converging road. Your Commit Team mate’s Pending Commit
• 12.
  Your Commit Team mate’s PendingCommit Some commit done after your last pull
• 13.
  Your Commit Team mate’s PendingCommit Some commit done after your last pull Challenge Can you be 100% sure about driving into the main road without an accident?
• 14.
  Your Commit Team mate’s PendingCommit Some commit done after your last pull Challenge - 2 What would you do if you really have to be sure not to hit another vehicle?
• 15.
  This is justa piece of ridiculous joke! What if the car could not run properly even before merge? Tip There are two types of failures: 1. Avoidable 2. Unavoidable
• 16.
  What if adeveloper creates an avoidable failure? Eg: Missed a semi-colon and checked-in Solution: Find ways to help the developer to avoid it Best Case: Automate the avoidable failure check before commit (using pre- commit hooks or equivalent) Worst Case: Police a checklist for commit. Tip Developers don’t intentionally cause havoc, unless you steal their coffee mug.
• 17.
  And, what afteran unavoidable failure? All hell breaks loose? No, my friend! You wait until someone fixes the build. Remember! This build fixer need not be a build breaker. After build fixed, publicly appreciate the build fixer and exclaim “Woohoo! Another integration issue fixed early!” Tip Instead of punishing the build breaker, appreciate the build fixer, even if they both are same :) This motivates people to fix broken builds immediately.
• 18.
  What to track? Don’ttrack who broke the build and how many times. Now that we care about who fixes the build, track these: ➔ Total Build Red Time Average time in a day for which build was Red. Trend it transparently & aim for reducing the same. ➔ No. of Unavoidable Failures This is the no. of integration issues that you fixed early :)
• 19.
  Questions??? Create an atmospherefree of blame and full of trust and transparency. For more (free) agility tips visit my site http://www.vivekganesan. com or follow me on Twitter at @vivek_ganesan