December 2014 Summaries

Platform update v1412.1 introduces several enhancements, including the addition of Ruby 2.2.0, which features a better garbage collector and performance improvements, and updates to Erlang 17.4, Elixir 1.0.2, and Git 2.2.1 with important security fixes. JRuby has been updated to 1.7.18 to improve compatibility with Ruby 1.9.3, while PostGIS is now at version 2.1.5. PHP receives multiple updates with versions 5.4.36, 5.5.20, and 5.6.4, and NodeJS gets two updates, versions 0.10.35 and 11.14. Users interested in a complete list of changes can refer to the platform changelog, and discussions about the update can be joined on Discord.

Scheduled for release on Tuesday, December 23rd, 2014, the platform update brings a series of software enhancements including updates to Bundler, Firefox, Git, libmysqlclient, PHP, and Redis. Notably, Firefox version 34 necessitates that projects using the selenium-webdriver gem update accordingly, and Redis 2.8.18 introduces new features and bug fixes. Go is now installed by default, with version 1.4 offering support for Android applications. Users are encouraged to test the new platform by selecting Ubuntu 14.04 LTS v1412 from the Project Settings to help identify and resolve any issues before the official release. Further details can be found in the platform changelog, and discussions around the update are welcomed on Discord.

Semaphore has introduced enhancements to its notification system, focusing on verified emails and personalized notifications for users. Users can now register multiple verified email addresses to receive build and deploy status notifications, with the option to receive alerts only for branches they contribute to, reducing noise in large teams. The new "My work" notification policy allows users to subscribe only to builds containing their commits, identified by the committer's email address. This personalization is accessible via a project's email notification settings or the new "Notifications" tab under Account settings. Additionally, users can manage multiple email addresses, designating one as their primary email for default notifications. Existing email addresses have already been migrated, minimizing the need for manual updates.

A new feature called queued builds cancellation has been introduced to enhance control over the build queue by allowing only the most recent code version to be tested, thereby eliminating the need to wait for all previous builds to complete. This strategy ensures that developers receive the latest build results efficiently without manually canceling prior builds or delaying their code pushes. The configuration for this feature can be accessed in the project settings under the Branches tab, streamlining the development process and enabling continuous integration.

Semaphore has developed a custom build queue algorithm designed to optimize the build flow for teams by preventing individual developers from monopolizing resources, thus enhancing overall productivity and satisfaction. While the algorithm effectively remains unobtrusive, some teams require greater control, prompting the introduction of high priority branches. These branches, identified through regular expressions, allow certain branches like hotfixes or master to be prioritized in the build queue, ensuring critical code is built and deployed promptly. It's recommended to limit the number of high priority branches to maintain the algorithm's efficiency, and configuration can be managed in the project's settings. Further enhancements are in development, inviting users to engage with updates and discussions on Discord.