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Continuous Integration

Continuous Integration is an important software development practice. The key benefit of Continuous Integration is the reduced risk of failure of the software project. The risk is reduced by the immediate feedback on the quality of changes.

The method of Continuous Integration is a frequent checking-in of meaningful changes into the product codebase.

The main tool of Continuous Integration is a Continuous Integration server.

Continuous Integration Server

A Continuous Integration server ensures that the new changes integrate into the product codebase. The Continuous Integration server such as Parabuild watches a version control system for changes. When changes are detected, the Continuous Integration server runs build and tests for the changes to ensure that new changes are successfully integrated into the product codebase.

If the build or tests fail, the Continuous Integration server notifies developers responsible for the changes about the problem by sending an e-mail or an instant message. The quick feedback provided by the Continuous Integration server helps to resolve integration problems immediately when they occur.

Best Practices for Continuous Integration

Viewtier Systems provides a presentation on best practices for Continuous Integration.

Memory Map of Continuous Integration

Please click here to see a full-screen memory map of Continuous Integration.

History of Continuous Integration

Continuous integration as a method was reportedly born in early 60's when IBM's team developing OS/360 re-built the codebase four times a day. Continuous Integration received a significant boost when Martin Fowler, a well-known popularizer of best practices for software development published his article " Continuous Integration".