Build Engineer Bootcamp

Not very long ago a build engineer was the guy who typed "make" and then copied the compiled project up to the network. But as Agile methodologies quicken the pace of development, build and deployment must become automated or they become a serious bottleneck on team productivity. And with an increased emphasis on testing and metrics collection the build process has become about a lot more than just building. Build engineers are in the automation hotseat and need the skills to handle a wide range of demands while creating a reliable infrastructure the entire team can depend upon. Are you ready for that challenge?

Who is this for?

This training focuses on those developers that have been given the task of taking on the build automation responsibilities and are new to the topic, but probably have some experience with Ant builds. It will also be of interest to experienced developers who have felt the pain of a bad build environment and want to know how it can be made better.

What is it?

A two day intensive training course designed to get build engineers off to a good start. The course covers all the fundamentals required to maintain and enhance a solid continuous integration infrastructure. These include, but are not limited to, build tools like Ant and Maven, automated testing platforms like jUnit and Fitnesse, and continuous integration tools like CruiseControl and Hudson. All this is wrapped in a solid basis in the fundamental principles of CI - repeatable, independent, and portable.

What do you get out of it?

At the end of the two days, engineers will be able to work with their teams to improve the existing build process. They will be able to enhance their CI environment to provide more relevant information. They will be able to apply CI principles while assisting Senior Build Engineers design new CI systems.

How much does it cost?

Only AU$1318.00 through June 12, 2009.

Groups of 3 or more receive a 20% discount. Only AU$1240.00.

Only 20 students per class, with a minimum of 6. Register early to make sure you get a spot.

What do you need to bring?

Just your laptop and eagerness to learn. Make sure that your laptop has administrative privileges enabled. All required software will be provided. Lunch will be provided both days, at no additional cost.

Syllabus

This public course offers the first two days of the CI Guy's complete 3 day course. If you are interested in the third day of training on advanced CI topics, please contact us.

Day 1

Focus: Build Tools

Workshop 1 - Running Builds
Workshop 2 - Creating a Basic Build
Workshop 3 - Unit Test Automation
Workshop 4 - Static Code Analysis
Workshop 5 - Independence
Workshop 6 - Repeatability
Workshop 7 - Portability
Workshop 8 - Build System Analysis

Day 2

Focus: Continuous Integration Systems

Workshop 1 - What is Continuous Integration?
Workshop 2 - Configuring CI Builds
Workshop 3 - Adding New Builds
Workshop 4 - Installing A CI Server
Workshop 5 - Daily Builds vs. Checkin Builds
Workshop 6 - Notification Mechanisms
Workshop 7 - Load Distribution
Workshop 8 - Load Distribution, II

Schedule

Each day consists of both classroom style lecture and hands-on workshops. Each workshop begins with an introduction to the activity, followed by an assignment to work through and finalized with a group discussion and demonstration.

9:00 - 9:15 - Introductions
9:15 - 9:45 - Topic Presentation
9:45 - 10:00 - Workshop Session Setup
10:00 - 10:20 - Workshop 1
10:20 - 10:30 - Break
10:30 - 11:00 - Workshop 2
11:00 - 11:30 - Workshop 3
11:30 - 12:00 - Workshop 4
12:00 - 13:00 - Lunch Break
13:00 - 13:15 - Morning Retrospective
13:15 - 13:30 - Afternoon Kickoff
13:30 - 14:00 - Workshop 5
14:00 - 14:30 - Workshop 6
14:30 - 14:40 - Break
14:40 - 15:10 - Workshop 7
15:10 - 15:40 - Workshop 8
15:40 - 16:00 - Afternoon Retrospective
16:00 - 16:15 - Final Recap

About the Instructor

Paul's Portrait Paul Julius applies, and mentors others on, nearly every Agile practice, from developer techniques to testing strategy to using adaptive project management approaches. His wide ranging professional experience has seen him in nearly every software development role. He worked at ThoughtWorks prior to serving on the executive team at Stelligent. Paul recently founded Willowbark Consulting to enable clients in their Agile development endeavors.

While at ThoughtWorks, Paul co-founded CruiseControl, an open source continuous integration server. Paul strives to unify the continuous integration community world-wide through CITCON, the Continuous Integration and Testing Conference. To further CITCON's mission and help other similar conferences, Paul cofounded the Open Information Foundation, to help promote and fund activities that share information freely with everyone. See www.pauljulius.com for more information or feel free to email him at me@pauljulius.com.