Head First Software Development

Chapter 7. Testing and Continuous Integration: Things fall apart

Sometimes even the best developer breaks the build. Everyone’s done it at least once. You’re sure your code compiles; you’ve tested it over and over again on your machine and committed it into the repository. But somewhere between your machine and that black box they call a server, someone must have changed your code. The unlucky soul who does the next checkout is about to have a bad morning sorting out what used to be working code. In this chapter we’ll talk about how to put together a safety net to keep the build in working order and you productive.

Things will ALWAYS go wrong...

Everyone who’s ever done development knows what it’s like. It’s late, you’re on you’re eleventh can of Rock Star energy drink, and you still leave out that one ++ operator somewhere. Suddenly, your elegant code goes to pieces...bad news is, you don’t realize you’ve got a problem.

At least, not until you’re demoing the software for your boss. Remember the issues we had with Bob’s code in Chapter 6?

Brain Power

What other kinds of things can go wrong on a development project? What about with a small team? Do you have the same problems with a bigger team? Different problems?

Standup meeting

Bob: I did get it compiling! It took me forever to integrate ...