Electric Cloud is sponsoring the 2013 Android Builders Summit, where we will launch some very exciting new solutions and offerings for Android device and chipset makers looking to accelerate their Android Software Delivery.

One of the most exciting news that we will announce at the event is how the engineers at Electric Cloud have been able to optimize ElectricAccelerator for the Android platform build and are able to show significant speedup compared to any of the alternatives – more on that in future news and blog posts.

This post is a slight side-step from that discussion, but I hope still interesting. In the below graphs and table, you will see the evolution of the Android Open Source Project (AOSP), in terms of the relative size of the code base and build times:

If compared so other significant open source project, you can see in the graph above there has been significant growth in the Android code base in the past 4 years, which should not come as a surprise given the enormous innovation that’s gone in the platform in recent years.

In the table and graph above, we have listed relative build times for some of the most prominent Android versions. Except for a massive leap in between Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread and Android 4.0.1 Ice Cream Sandwich you see that the relative build times are fairly consistent with the growth of the code base.

Which brings up a few interesting questions (for which we yet don’t know the answer to):

• Will the code base of Android continue to show such an aggressive growth in the next major release (v5.0 Key Lime Pie) and beyond?
• How will the relative build time evolve? Will it continue to scale faster than the code size?

The folks at Rebel Labs picked Jenkins as the last installation of their technical report series. It is a beautifully crafted 50 page PDF that covers the overview of the technology. You get to see a bit of details about how ZeroTurnaround uses Jenkins, and it contains a section where I get interviewed by them.

Also, while they failed to mention this in the document, you can use JRebel when developing Jenkins plugins and it'll reduce the # of times you need to restart the VM. To the extent that you use it to develop open-source Jenkins plugins, you can apply for a free OSS license, too.

If that sounds interesting enough, you can get your copy now. Be forewarned that a registration is required.

The folks at Rebel Labs picked Jenkins as the last installation of their technical report series. It is a beautifully crafted 50 page PDF that covers the overview of the technology. You get to see a bit of details about how ZeroTurnaround uses Jenkins, and it contains a section where I get interviewed by them.

Also, while they failed to mention this in the document, you can use JRebel when developing Jenkins plugins and it'll reduce the # of times you need to restart the VM. To the extent that you use it to develop open-source Jenkins plugins, you can apply for a free OSS license, too.

If that sounds interesting enough, you can get your copy now. Be forewarned that a registration is required.

Pulse 2.5.18 has been released. This is a stable build in the 2.5 series. Changes include:

• A new system property for customising the rmdir command.

See the release notes for full details.

Pulse 2.5 packages are available from the downloads page.

The road to establishing a successful DevOps practice isn’t always a smooth one – but there are steps that you can take to make your path easier.

Why Adopt DevOps Practices?

Adopting DevOps practices isn’t always easy. Not only do you need to increase the frequency and quality of your releases – but you also need to change the entire culture of your teams. You need to get everyone on board and ready to be more aligned, more communicative and open to the idea of implementing tools to facilitate the change.

So why do it? Most companies are spurred on by release management issues. By gradually adopting DevOps practices, you can dramatically improve the frequency and quality of your application releases. Even taking the first step towards a DevOps culture can lead to a less-siloed and more integrated company.

Release Management is Key to DevOps

When it comes to DevOps, release management is key. For many businesses, the first time that developers and operations employees interact is when developers deploy their applications on the infrastructure owned by operations. However, even if this is the very first time that these two teams interact, you can take steps to improve your release management.

Here are some useful tips on how Navy Federal Credit Union made this work:

1. Use a Structured Process for Code Changes
Navy Federal refused to make ad-hoc changes demanded by the company. Instead, they set up a clear and structured process and used change management tickets in a central repository.

2. Code Changes Must have a ‘Business Case’
Every time a manager wanted to make a code change, they needed to consider what the impact the change would have on the business and prove that it was worthwhile.

3. Facilitate Simultaneous Developments
It’s a waste of time and resources to keep your development team stuck on just one project. Be brave and manage simultaneous developments on multiple projects.

4. Execute User Acceptance Testing in a Pre-Production Environment
Software releases are vital and should be tested thoroughly to ensure they run smoothly.  Navy Federal didn’t take any chances and dedicated 70 of its employees to process of rolling out software.

5. And Finally – Plan for Rollback
You might want to pray it doesn’t happen but it’s always best to be prepared.

Every single one of these steps will significantly improve your release management processes – putting you on a smoother path to a successful DevOps operation.

Find out more about DevOps in the Enterprise here.

Cast your vote today! Tell us what you want to learn more about – whether it be DevOps, IT governance and compliance, cloud and virtualization or anything else in the field of continuous application delivery!

As you know, we’re committed to providing you with the most valuable material in the field of continuous application delivery. In fact, we’ve already got a rich library of whitepapers covering a wide range of topics. We’re dedicated to providing you with educational information to keep you up-to-date, ahead of the field and enable you to implement the best possible working processes. We make sure that you’re always updated but we also want to know the areas that you want to learn more about.

That’s why we want you to cast your vote. Nolio’s next whitepaper will cover the topic of your choice – you just have to make sure that your voice is heard.

Take our poll below and let us know which of the following topics you’d like to learn more about:

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

If your answer is ‘None of the Above’, we want to hear what you do want to learn about. Send an email to clare@noliosoft.com with your suggestions.

Don’t forget to check out our library of existing whitepapers if you want to download educational material instantly.

I also wanted to remind you that we’re holding a webinar today, Tuesday, February 12, on achieving continuous application delivery in dynamic environments. This webinar will start at 11am EST/4pm GMT and will you need to know about improving efficiency when deploying applications.

Dear Members, Thank you for supporting me in my research studies. Unfortunately we didn't receive enough response for this study. Hence we modified the study

Dear Members, Thank you for supporting me in my research studies. Unfortunately we didn't receive enough response for this study. Hence we modified the study

Pulse 2.5.17 has been released. This is a stable build in the 2.5 series. Changes include:

• Sane limits on wrapper logs.
• Support for relative paths in pulse expand.
• Improved error reporting for rejected personal builds.
• Minor bug fixes.

See the release notes for full details.

Pulse 2.5 packages are available from the downloads page.

Time is running out! You’ve got just one day left to register for our live webinar on deploying applications to dynamic environments.

This webinar, Continuous Application Delivery in Dynamic Environments, will teach you all you need to know about improving efficiency when deploying applications. Application delivery experts Scott Dainty and David Brown will teach you how to deploy complex applications to dynamic environments and still:

• Cut software delivery costs
• Increase delivery throughput
• Reduce time to market
• Eliminate human errors

This will be a fascinating, educational and interactive webinar. Our experts will draw on real life-examples, showing you how to dynamically generate environments from CMDB and Puppet. Mr. Brown will deliver a live demonstration of Puppet and Nolio – and you’ll get the chance to ask any questions you have in an open Q&A session. Start thinking about your questions now or ask them ‘on the spot’ after viewing the presentation!

Continuous Application Delivery in Dynamic Environments will be held tomorrow, Tuesday, February 12, 2013, at 8am PST/11am EST/4pm GMT. There’s still time to register. However, space is limited and this webinar is filling up fast so we strongly urge you to register today.

Simply click here to find out more and secure your spot in this valuable webinar.

Interested in viewing more of Nolio’s educational webinars? Take a look at our webinar library – which covers everything from Agile Operations and DevOps to Cloud and CMDB systems.

 

ABOUT THE PRESENTERS

Scott Dainty

Mr. Dainty has been Nolio’s Regional Director of UK and Ireland since September 2012.  He has around 17 years of experience working for leading global technical organizations and is an expert at delivering emerging technologies to solve complex customer problems.

David Brown

Mr. Brown has been a Technical Consultant at Nolio since April 2012. He has 14 years of experience in technical account management and consulting, and 28 years of IT experience in operating systems, networks, systems integration and business management.

http://www.meetup.com/Continuous-Delivery-Sydney/events/101116982/

http://www.meetup.com/Continuous-Delivery-Sydney/events/101116982/

*** SPECIAL INVITE FOR CITCON SYDNEY 2013 Attendees Hello all, Our monthly February Continuous Delivery Meetup is fast approaching! Be sure to RSVP soon so we

Had a great conference. Thanks everyone! Pictures: http://flic.kr/s/aHsjDVp3CB - PJ

Get informed about DevOps including the origin and history of DevOps. This webinar, Mastering DevOps Challenges, covers basic information about DevOps and gives you tips on analyzing your own process to determine what you will need to do to move from ALM to DevOps.

My take: SOA promote (very) stable public interface and changing the underlying implementation as often as you need/must. Extending interfaces is usually

Thanks Arnaud (somehow only just got your message). Service-oriented architecture and component-based software engineering do talk about building a larger

We’re excited to announce that Nolio,  a global leader in continuous application delivery, has entered into a new partnership with technological pioneer Cast Info.

Cast Info is a leading international group which offers high-quality ICT solutions to customers across the globe. Since it was founded in 1993, it has been giving its customers a valuable competitive advantage with advanced innovations that facilitate enhanced IT and business management processes.

Cast Info’s mission is to give value to its clients by applying innovative technology proposals, improving processes and business management. It helps companies with the numerous challenges they face when operating their ICT environments, such as adapting to increasing business needs, low resources, increasingly complex applications etc. In order to resolve such challenges, Cast Info develops new technological solutions.

With its focus on offering superior solutions that will exceed its clients’ expectations, Cast Info is an ideal partner for Nolio – which leads the way in application release automation. Together, the companies will be able to provide the IT sector with a top quality and innovative solution to its continuous delivery demands.

Eran Sher, Co-Founder and EVP Business Development at Nolio, said: “We’re very excited about joining forces with Cast Info, which has an excellent reputation for providing high-quality solutions to its clients.  Nolio’s software complements the solutions offered by Cast Info by standardizing business processes and automating complex release processes. This reduces manual errors and time spent managing application releases, as well as improving deployment quality across the application delivery chain”

Nolio already has a number of partnerships with leading global companies from various market sectors. Nolio’s current partners also include: ASG, Atos, GFT, Hova IT, Logica, Microsoft, and ServiceNow.

Click here to find out more about Nolio’s partnerships.

Read about some of Nolio’s valued customers.

You can also find out more about Nolio’s continuous application delivery solutions in next week’s webinar: Continuous Application Delivery in Dynamic Environments. Registration is free but seats are limited. Click here to sign up now!

Wondering: Is this not the original vision behind SOA or CBSE? My 50 cts Arnaud

Thanks Andy and Julian - I've added your links and suggestions to the page. Other comments and criticisms very welcome!