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Defining Agile SCM: Past, Present & Future (2008)

We would like to revisit our definition of Agile SCM. In our earliest articles on the topic, we defined Agile SCM as, "The pragmatic application of sound CM principles and practices in accordance with agile values and lean thinking to serve the needs of the business!" We wish to elaborate what that means in terms of SCM for agile development, but even more importantly in terms of how we should apply agile, lean, and their related principles to SCM processes and procedures.

How Does the Shift Toward Web-Based Technology Influence CM?

While the definition of Web 2.0 has barely begun to settle down, applications must start to react. Web 2.0 is, from a technology viewpoint, mostly a combination of collaborative web technology and application web interfaces that mimic their native client counterparts. From a social viewpoint, it's a communication and information transition: blogs, Facebook, integrated chat, and meeting capabilities create a web base of knowledge so that anyone can search for anyone or anything and communicate or contribute to the subject matter. From a CM/ALM perspective, there has always been a need to have a base of knowledge, of data, and of people. The success of CM depends on it. So how really does Web 2.0 play into the next generation of CM?

Joe Farah's picture Joe Farah
The Basics: VPATH and vpath

Ask Mr. Make talks about the uses of VPATH and vpath.

John Graham-Cumming's picture John Graham-Cumming
A Word with the Wise: Expanding Testing Horizons

In this Sticky ToolLook interview, Danny Faught shares insight onto his earliest days as a tester, the skills he's acquired throughout his career, and skills and tools he believes every tester should posses.

Joey McAllister's picture Joey McAllister
New Developments in Builds and Deployment Management

The very first generation of CM tools dealt with support for build operations. Typically, this was through the inclusion of a facility such as a Make utility, and perhaps some tools to help build Make files. But as we move into the next generation of CM tools, it is also more important to be able to manage the builds at an information level. Build Management moves from the earlier build operation support and tagging functions, to wider traceability and better information accessibility. And beyond the build operations themselves, there are additional benefits as we move into the next generation of Deployment Management.

Joe Farah's picture Joe Farah
Think Like a Tester

After more than thirty years in information technology, the last fourteen spent focused on testing and quality assurance, Dale Perry has come to believe everyone can benefit from thinking like a tester. In this article, Dale offers comical, yet serious, insight on how a tester views airport bathroom stall designs.

Dale Perry's picture Dale Perry
Using a Commercial Tool to Automate a Build and Deployment Process

The use of a commercial tool to automate your build and deployment process saves time and money. In this article, Michael Sayko explains how to go about selecting the right tool for your specific project and team's needs, and then how to use that tool efficiently.

Michael Sayko
Continuous Integration and Enterprise Build Automation

How often have you or one of your teammates checked the source code into the code library which then instantly triggered an automated build?  How many times did this instant build succeed? Do you have an automated build and release system that ensures your software is built in the same way each and every time? Are deployments to staging environments entirely automated and executed with a single click? While reviewing a defect in a production release, are you able to backtrack through the source code changes and identify the root cause of failure? If the last good checkin happened a few days ago, identification of this root cause of failure would become even more difficult. Seasoned CM practitioners advise that you perform a daily build to avoid such integration issues. What an irony it is that only a few projects take advantage of this simple, yet powerful technique known as Continuous Integration (CI).

Mayank Gupta
Breaking News: Build Still Important, but Deployment Is King!

Brad Appleton, Robert Cowham, and Steve Berczuk continue to explore the role of build and deployment in configuration management. While the details may change from year to year as technology evolves, the underlying principles remain the same. Regarding building, we are going to take the opportunity to provide a guide to some of our previous articles that still hold true.

How To Choose Quality Candidates/Consultants for Your Large Company Agile Initiative

We created this set of questions to help corporate managers select Agile-experienced consultants and candidate employees for project work. Assembling a team of qualified Agile people is one thing, but the fact that some Agile practices and principles mean different things to different people makes it even harder to succeed in staffing your initiatives.

 

Daryl  Kulak's picture Daryl Kulak

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