Most software development has a hidden delay between the team saying “We’re done” and when it’s actually ready to release. Sometimes that delay can stretch on for months. It’s the little things: getting everyone’s code to work together, writing a deploy script, updating data, and so forth. Continuous integration and deployment resolve this risk. In this session, Kelsey Hightower joins us to talk about how it works.

Kelsey Hightower got his start as an entrepreneur at a young age. He was an early adopter of cloud technologies and now works as a Principal Engineer at Google Cloud, where he helps people and organizations learn to be better. He’s a popular speaker and past chair of several high-profile technology conferences. His book, Kubernetes: Up & Running, was co-authored with two of the creators of Kubernetes. It’s now available in its second edition.

Reading:
📖 Continuous Integration
📖 Continuous Deployment
📖 Feature Flags

🎙 Discussion prompts:

• Let’s talk about organizational change. Continuous deployment and continuous integration can be a big mindset shift for a lot of organizations. What’s involved with making that shift?

• Continuous integration and deployment also relies on a good automated build and automated deployment. What are some important things to keep in mind when building this automation?

• Data migration often involves big, irreversible changes. What are some tricks for performing data migration safely?

• Feature flags and keystone interfaces allow teams to deploy changes without releasing in-progress features. What are the pluses and minuses of these techniques?

About the Book Club

From October 2021 to August 2022, I hosted a call-in talk show based on the second edition of The Art of Agile Development. The series used the book as a jumping-off point for wide-ranging discussions about Agile ideas and practices, and had a star-studded guest list.

For an archive of past sessions, visit the book club index. For more about the book, visit the Art of Agile Development home page.