January 2018 Summaries

The evolution of Agile software development emerged as a response to the limitations of the waterfall method, which was characterized by its rigidity and extensive documentation that stifled innovation and adaptability. Agile methodologies advocate for embracing change by breaking projects into smaller, manageable chunks and focusing on collaboration, flexibility, and rapid feedback. Precursors to Agile, such as Rapid Application Development (RAD) and the Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM), sought to improve workflows by prioritizing speed and adaptability over exhaustive planning. Scrum and Extreme Programming (XP) further refined these ideas by emphasizing empirical process control, iterative development, and practices like sprints and pair programming. The Agile Manifesto, created in 2001 by a group of developers, consolidated the best practices from various methodologies, emphasizing values such as individuals and interactions over processes and tools, and responding to change over following a plan. Agile is not a rigid framework but rather a set of guiding principles aimed at helping software teams make practical, timely decisions, ultimately transforming software development from a manufacturing process to a creative, adaptable craft.

The text is an introduction to a four-part series that explores the evolution of software development methodologies, focusing on the transition from the traditional Waterfall model to more modern approaches like Agile. It highlights how software engineers often work within systems established by their predecessors, emphasizing the slow, methodical nature of progress in software development. The Waterfall model, originating from hardware development practices, is described as a structured process with phased progression that was initially praised for its predictability and thorough documentation. However, its inflexibility and inability to adapt quickly to changes became apparent, making it less suitable for the fast-paced software industry. The text sets the stage for the subsequent exploration of Agile methodologies, which arose as a response to the limitations of Waterfall, aiming to provide a more adaptable and efficient framework for software development.

CircleCI has announced a $31 million Series C funding round led by Top Tier Capital Partners, with participation from Industry Ventures and Heavybit, joining existing investors. Since its inception in 2011, CircleCI has evolved to meet the growing complexity of software development, transitioning from a simpler platform to one that supports the demands of modern engineering teams who are building products with thousands of microservices in multiple languages. The company now processes over 7 million builds per month, having successfully reduced build times and increased capacity. Their 2018 focus is on scaling up, enhancing intelligent automation, and simplifying user experience to support both small teams and large enterprises, aiming to streamline the journey from idea to delivery. With plans for proactive alerting and re-routing to prevent build failures, CircleCI is committed to improving productivity and code quality, inviting those interested in shaping the future of software delivery to join their team.

Following its acquisition by Apple, buddybuild announced the discontinuation of its Android builds and free iOS plans, prompting teams to seek alternative continuous integration (CI) systems for mobile development, such as CircleCI. The comparison between CircleCI and buddybuild highlights CircleCI's reliance on configuration files stored in a git repository, allowing for better audit trails, version restoration, and easy configuration replication across repositories. CircleCI leverages fastlane, an open-source tool, for code signing, testing, and deployment, ensuring compatibility with Apple and third-party services, whereas buddybuild provides built-in mechanisms. CircleCI's Workflows feature enables the integration of iOS and Android configurations within a single file, benefiting projects like React Native by facilitating parallel job execution and early failure detection using tools like swiftlint and Danger.