Dear Manager, They Need a Build Machine

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Dear Manager,



When I talk with the developers on your team, they tell me they need a dedicated build machine. I'm partly to blame. See, I've been showing them a free build scheduler that, after just a few minutes of configuration, will continuously build your software with no human intervention. That's good for them, and it's even better for you. Let me tell you why.



If you build and test your software once an hour, no problem is more than an hour old.

This makes it easier to find and fix problems, which saves time and money, and lets your team concentrate on adding new stuff, not fixing old stuff.

The continuous build process feeds you valuable and timely information, letting you manage the development more tightly.

Here's how it works: Every hour, for example, and only if new work has done, the build scheduler checks out a fresh copy of your project from version control and attempts to build the project. The build process includes compiling all of your project's source files, running an arbitrary number of tests, and generating any other build artifacts, such as project metrics. If, for any reason, the build process is unsuccessful, then the build scheduler can notify you via email, your cell phone, RSS, or a visual device such as a lava lamp. You can also use your web browser to view the current status of the build, or any prior build.