[vox] [fwd] SVLUG Apr 5th meeting: "Automating Software Builds"

[Bill Kendrick]

FYI!

The Silicon Valley Linux Users Group (SVLUG) meets this Wednesday:

WHEN:

  Wednesday, April 5, 2006
  7pm-9pm


MAIN PRESENTATION:

  TOPIC:
    Automating Software Builds

  PRESENTED BY:
    Kevin Jameson, Co-founder, Codefast, Inc.

  TOPIC SUMMARY:
    Automated software processes are an important part of your software
    project infrastructure: They are the scripts and programs that perform
    checkouts, software builds, regression tests, release packaging
    processes, code branch health checks, and other such automated file
    manipulations.  Although programmers have traditionally created
    automated processes using manual craft labor, it is now possible to
    generate and execute such processes using automated smart process
    generators & scalable execution systems, with essentially no human
    labor.  Because human errors are removed from the system (along with
    human labor), process error rates drop dramatically; product cycle
    times speed up accordingly.

    E.g., during a five-month period (Nov. 2004 to Mar. 2005), Codefast's
    developers made 7,688 check-ins to a code base of 1M lines of C,
    running on 20 platforms, and had zero build failures on Codefast's
    GNU Linux platform.  Zero build failures equates to perfect six-sigma
    build-process quality.

    This talk gives highlights of Codefast's story, summarizing
    Production Automation concepts, goals, solutions, and results; it
    gives Codefast's conclusions and expectations for the future.
    Attendees will be able to pick up a free copy of Kevin Jameson's
    second, easy to read book Software Lifecycle Automation, at the
    presentation.

  ABOUT THE PRESENTER:
    Software-productivity researcher Kevin Jameson has spent almost 25 years
    researching and implementing smart, automated software systems to
    improve software-development team productivity.  Kevin was the original
    founder of Codefast in Canada, before the company was re-formed as a
    Silicon Valley VC-backed company; he's currently responsible for the
    technology vision of modern Codefast products.

    Kevin has authored two books in the field: Multiplatform Code Management
    (O'Reilly, 1994) and Software Lifecycle Automation (2004).  He's written
    numerous technical articles and papers, spoken at various international
    software conferences, and authored more than 25 USA and Canadian patents
    and patents-pending in the field of software lifecycle automation.
    Kevin has a bachelor's degree in general science, and a master's degree
    in software engineering from the University of Calgary.


NIFTY OF THE MONTH / OTHER BUSINESS:

  To be announced.


LOCATION:

  Symantec  (formerly Veritas Software Corp.)
  VCAFE Facility
  350 Ellis Street  (near E. Middlefield Road)
  Mountain View, CA 94043

  Directions on how to get there are listed at:

    http://www.svlug.org/directions/veritas.shtml

  We've tried our very best for these directions to be accurate.
  If you have any improvements to make, please let SVLUG's volunteers know!
  webmaster {at} svlug -dot- org


MEETING REFRESHMENTS:

  Open Country (http://www.opencountry.com/) will be graciously providing
  refreshments for this meeting.


POST-MEETING GATHERING:

  If you just can't get enough, a smaller group usually goes to a local
  restaurant/diner after the meeting.  We'll announce the restaurant
  selection at the meeting.


We look forward to seeing you there!

--
Bill Kendrick
Speaker Coordinator
Silicon Valley Linux Users Group
http://www.svlug.org/