Build and Test Automation
The main practice in a CI pipeline is to automate the build process. Within a build process, you want to ensure you are integrating and performing unit tests so that builds fail for code that does not meet functional requirements. Build and test automation is about integrating changes early and often. This prevents maintenance hell on both feature and main branches as developers progress on feature development.
What are CI Platforms?
Continuous Integration Platforms are build automation platforms. With the rise of platforms such as Jenkins and Drone, automating language-specific build tools, e.g. Maven, Gradle, NPM, and package formats such as Docker, RPM, AMI, are crucial to any software development organization.
How does Harness leverage CI Platforms?
Harness CI is a best-of-breed Continuous Integration Tool designed to scale with today’s modern cloud native needs. The Harness Platform can interact with a multitude of CI platforms and can natively call Jenkins jobs.
Essential Reads
What are the top Continuous Integration tools, and how do they help teams build and test automation? Learn more, and as a bonus, see how Harness automates the build and test process.
Learn how to install, build, and publish your first Harness Continuous Integration (CI) using Drone— all in less than 10 minutes!
What are Source Code Management and Artifact Management?
Harness Continuous Integration and the Harness Platform integrate with multiple SCM providers. Harness CI takes source code and turns it into a build/release. The Harness Platform and Harness CI leverage configuration-as-code, which integrates with SCM providers. Harness Continuous Integration and the Harness Platform also integrate with multiple artifact management providers. Harness CI products artifacts that are published to artifact management providers. The Harness Platform can call a myriad of artifact management providers and formats in a single Harness Pipeline orchestrating the needed artifacts for a successful deployment.
How Source Code Management and Artifact Management are used with Harness.
Harness Continuous Integration and the Harness Platform integrate with multiple SCM providers. Harness CI takes source code and turns it into a build/release. The Harness Platform and Harness CI leverage configuration-as-code, which integrates with SCM providers. Harness Continuous Integration and the Harness Platform also integrate with multiple artifact management providers. Harness CI products artifacts that are published to artifact management providers. The Harness Platform can call a myriad of artifact management providers and formats in a single Harness Pipeline orchestrating the needed artifacts for a successful deployment.
Essential Reads
CI/CD Evangelist Ravi Lachhman presents an overview of everything that happens before the software deployment, as well as a summary of Source Code Management.
Learn the benefits of Source Code Management, also known as Version Control, for developers as they work on different parts of a codebase, collaborate, and deliver new releases.
What is Test Automation?
Testing and quality engineering are important parts of the SDLC. Testing tools which are integrated into source code as part of the build such as JUnit or tests can be externally called against the application, e.g. performance testing tools like Gatling/JMeter. Testing can paint a wide brush and there is lots of coverage between the source code and running application.
How Harness uses Test Automation
Harness Continuous Integration enables automated build and test. With a robust ecosystem and wide variety of plug-ins, integrating modern testing methodologies and new languages are easy. Pipelines e.g automated build and tests can be configured as code and are declarative in nature expressing goals instead of lengthy scripting.
Essential Reads
In an organization where developers are continuously pushing code to production, managing risks can be difficult. What role do developers play in Governance, risk management, and compliance (GRC)?
Testing in your Continuous Integration pipeline is crucial to modern software development teams. Understand process vs. off process testing, moving tests into the pipeline, and Harness CI.