Continuous Integration

Terminology:

• build can be: DEBUG, RELEASE
• app run mode can be: TEST, LIVE
• dev env can be:
  • myrepo DEV where code is (mostly) written and tested
  • myrepo.git BARE where code is gathered and synced
  • myrepo-ci CI where app is automatically run and tested on any commit
  • myrepo-prod PROD where live app runs available to others

Goals:

• on code save in DEV env: automatically build RELEASE, run TEST
• on code commit: automatically build, do any custom build steps, run any unit tests, run any end-to-end tests, and report results dynamically
• on app production release: compile artifacts, assist in automatic versioning

Tools:

• git
  • use a centralized bare repository as the origin target for all the client development environments; master will be the workhorse branch
  • git hooks, especially post-receive on the server, which triggers when a new push arrives from any client; this is the entry point for CI server builds
• Node.js
  • This allows us to write cross-platform CI scripts in a language that is fundamental to web development
  • Base Node.js provides many important cross-platform functions; it is also fundamentally asynchronous
  • Use modules and you get command-line support from any path on any platform's shell
• Windows
  • window management via AutoHotKey; see various sync ahk scripts for examples
  • Powershell; make sure to set it up to get debug output:

$global:DebugPreference = "Continue"

• Ubuntu i3
  • Use i3 scripting to manage windows placement; see various keyboard shortcuts in config file for examples

That is all. And away we go!