2014
Build & Infrastructure
EngineeringWhat It Is and Why You Need It
Na’Tosha J. Bard
October 9, 2014
#GHC14
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2014
What is Build Engineering?
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Build Engineering is the glue
that holds the software
development process
together.
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Examples of Build Engineering
Choosing, configuring, customizing, and
maintaining a CI server
Applying/Optimizing development models
(branch-based, patch-based, etc.)
Build optimizations (distributed builds, bulk
builds, etc.)
… and much more
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Why do I care?
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About the Speaker
Na’Tosha J. Bard
Copenhagen, Denmark
Lead Build & Infrastructure Developer, Unity Technologies
Open-Source and Linux Enthusiast
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What is Unity?
Game engine and content
creation toolkit
Editor for Mac OSX and
Windows
Runtime ported to ~20
platforms
Mostly written in C++
Gameplay code written in C#
Scripting engine for gameplay
code built with Mono
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Build Engineering
at Unity Technologies
2014
2010
Unstable SVN server
All developers commit directly to trunk
Unstable CI server
6 VisualStudio and Xcode solutions wrapped in Perl
Automated tests nightly on 2 platforms
4 machines for building
Deployment scripts running from developer machines
No automatic verification of deployed builds
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DVCS with Mercurial
Branch-based development
Project files generated with Jamplus
Stable CI solution (internally-developed)
Automated tests running on developer branches and on our mainline on 7+ platforms
Build Cloud of over 200 virtual and physical machines
Deployment scripts running from central deployment server with verification
Publishing portal for deployment is in-development
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Release Schedule Over Time
Every 2 to 6 weeks Weekly
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Foundation of Build
Infrastructure
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The 5 Pillars of Build Infrastructure
One-Click Builds
Build Automation
Continuous Integration
Automated Testing
Automated Deployment
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One-Click Builds
Building your software with just
one click.
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Benefits of One-Click Builds
KISS principle
Build early, build often
Groundwork for other software
development principles
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Getting Started with One-Click Builds
Depends on your application
Cohesive buildsystem
Keep platform-dependent issues in mind!
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Build Automation
A build server to run your one-
click builds.
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Benefits of Build Automation
Verification
Parallelization
Groundwork for other software
development principles
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Getting Started with Build Automation
TeamCity, Bamboo, Team Foundation
Server
Jenkins, Buildbot
Give careful thought to
buildserver/buildsystem configuration split
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Continuous Integration
Continuously run your automated
builds.
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Benefits of Continuous Integration
Increased developer productivity
Helps avoid “Integration Hell”
Automatically identifies exact failure point
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Getting Started with Continuous Integration
Generally, the same solutions as for Build
Automation apply here
Note: Sometimes “Frequent Integration” is
good enough
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Automated Testing
Execute tests on your
continuously-running builds.
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Automated Testing
Provides protection against regressions
Saves human resources
Keeps test suites from bit-rotting
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Getting Started with Automated Testing
Find a test framework for your technology
NUnit, JUnit, PyUnit (unittest)
Sometimes creating your own frameworks
is an answer (i.e, High-Level Integration
Tests)
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Automated Deployment
Easily deploy your tested builds.
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Benefits of Automated Deployment
Less error-prone than manual publishing
Easy to verify
Easy to track release history
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Getting Started with Automated Deployment
Often related to build automation/CI
solution
Highly dependent on your organization’s
server infrastructure and type of software
Start with a simple script and expand
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The 5 Pillars of Build Infrastructure
One-Click
Builds
Build
Automation
Continuous
Integration
Automated
Testing
Automated
Deployment
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A Call to Arms: Tips for Getting Started
Just do something
When advocating for change, focus on the
benefits
Don’t underestimate the value of having
dedicated build engineers
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Thank You!
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Contact Information
@natosha_bard
https://linkedin.com/in/natoshabard
+NaToshaBard
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