Modern Applications - How we do work

What this is:

Process based
How we ensure "quality"
How we automate ourselves out of a job
- So we can move onto bigger\better things

What this isn't:

How to write code
- Seriously though
  - SOLID\DDD principles
  - Basic architectural patterns
  - Write tests
  - That's the basics
Frameworks, libraries, etc

Why should I listen to you?

Been automating myself out of a job since I got here
Started with nant + CC.net
Moved to PSake + TeamCity
Have automated over 30 projects
Have automated most of the products we support
- e.g. SharePoint, CRM
I love this stuff

Why should I care?

Deployments should be boring and predictable
When they're not, make them so
Signs you're doing it wrong:
- Deploying and leaving the office at 4am*
- Copy\pasting files
- Manually editing stuff post-"deployment"
- A giant document of steps to follow
- Nervous before every deployment
- Same people deploying each time

*Unless it genuinely takes that long

General Process

Source control\Gitflow
Build script + local runner
TeamCity for CI
Octopus Deploy for deployments\CD

Source Control\Gitflow

Visual Studio Online

Git + command line tools (seriously learn them)
Create master/develop branches
Lock them for PRs only
Set develop as default branch (saves time on PRs)

Git + command line tools

Learn them. Seriously.
You'll actually understand what you're doing
When something goes wrong you can rectify it
- Most GUIs fall short when you're in a strange land
Takes maybe 2-3 days to cover most use cases
Poshgit for powershell is great

Poshgit

Gitflow - out of scope

Huge topic, lots of knowledge in MA around this
Day to day process as a developer
- Create feature branches off develop
- Finish work
- Run go.bat and ensure it works locally
- Push to VSO
- Create PR back into develop

Pull Requests

Here's one we prepared earlier: Example

Pull Requests

Review of your work by someone else
Ego-less
Time to reflect and spot improvements\shortcuts
- Shortcuts = technical debt
Hit by a train = no biggy, someone else knows whats up
Comments to indicate decisions\history

Build Script + go.bat

General process of a build script

Clean
Nuget restore
Compile
Deploy database changes
Run unit\integration tests
(Build Server only) Create and publish deployment packages
Any other project specific things

What NOT to put in a build script

Anything you can't run again and again
A lot of set up once and forget things
- Script those separately, e.g. IIS
Deployment steps should not be in a build script

So how do I make one?

PSake
PowerShell commands
That's it
Lots of example scripts here

Basic build script example

properties {
	#----------
	#Properties
	#PSake properties, these cannot be changed once they're defined
	#----------

	#----------	
	#Deployment Variables
	#----------	

	#----------	
	#Environmental Variables for Development
	#----------	
	$projectName = "ProjName"
        $buildNumber = "DEV"
	$config = "Release"
    
	#----------	
	#Directories
	#----------
	$baseDir = Resolve-Path .
        $sourceDir = "$baseDir\Source"
	$toolsDir = "$baseDir\Tools"
	$scriptsDir = "$baseDir\Scripts"
        $artefactsDir = "$baseDir\Artefacts"
		
	#----------	
	#Variable dependent properties
	#Properties that depend on other variables to be defined first
	#----------
	$solutionFilePath = "$sourceDir\$projectName.sln"
	$mainProjectFile = "$sourceDir\$projectName\$projectName.csproj"
	
	#----------	
	#Project Specific Variables
	#----------
	$visualStudioVersion = "14.0"
}

#----------	
#Includes
#Script files to include for function definitions
#----------
$path = Resolve-Path .
Include Scripts\Logger.ps1 -ErrorAction Stop
Include Scripts\VisualStudioExtensions.ps1 -ErrorAction Stop
Include Scripts\NUnitExtensions.ps1 -ErrorAction Stop

#-------------
#Build Targets
#Targets to build
#-------------

#-------------------------
#Targets
#-------------------------

task default -depends initial

task initial -depends preamble, clean, nugetRestore, compile, runUnitTests, postamble

task buildServer -depends initial

#-----------
#Build Steps
#Steps to execute
#-----------

task preamble {
	Log "Executing build number: $buildNumber Mode: $config" Green
}

task postamble {
	$date = Get-Date
	Log "Build number $buildNumber complete at $date" Green
}

task clean {
	Log "Cleaning solution $solutionFilePath" Green
	Clean-VisualStudioSolution  $solutionFilePath $config $isBuildServerTarget $visualStudioVersion
}

task nugetRestore {
	Log "Restoring nuget packages for the solution" Green
	Push-Location $sourceDir
	$nugetExe = ".nuget\nuget.exe"
	&$nugetExe "restore"
	Pop-Location
	Log "Nuget packages successfully restored" Green
}

task compile {
	Log "Building solution $sourceDir\$projectName.sln in $config mode" Green
    Build-VisualStudioSolution $solutionFilePath $config $isBuildServerTarget $visualStudioVersion
}

task runUnitTests {
	Log "Recreating artefacts directory" Green
        Remove-Item $artefactsDir -Recurse -Confirm:$false -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
        New-Item -ItemType Directory $artefactsDir
        Log "Artefacts directory recreated" Green
    
        Log "Running Unit Tests" Green	
        Copy-FilesFromDirectories "$sourceDir\Test\*Test*\bin\$config" $artefactsDir
	$tests = Get-ChildItem $artefactsDir\*.Test*.dll -Exclude $excludedProjectRegex
	Foreach ($test in $tests) {
		$testPath = $test.FullName
		$testName = $test.Name
		Log "Running test suite: $testName" Yellow
		Run-Nunit $toolsDir $testPath $resultsDir
	}
}

#-----------
#Generalised functions
#Any other generic functions can be stored here
#-----------

Generic go.bat runner

@echo off
powershell.exe -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy unrestricted -Command "import-module .\Tools\PSake\psake.psm1; invoke-psake build.ps1 %1 -properties @{config='Release'; buildNumber='dev'} -framework 4.0x64;if ($psake.build_success -eq $false) { exit 1 } else { exit 0;}"

TeamCity

TeamCity role

Automated running of the build script
Red\green indicators of success
Proves it works on more than just my machine
Creates and uploads packages to Octopus' Nuget server

Considerations and tradeoffs

Build script running =\= build steps in TC
Logging\feedback for PS scripts is painful
Dumpster diving when things go wrong

Benefits

Same process on build\local
Confidence that my changes "work"
Can run the build hundreds of times locally to see changes
Ensures one final "good to go" run before checking in
Eliminates "works on my machine" conversations

What about nightlies?

Used for long running processes
Code coverage + deployment of MKDocs documentation
Full system integration tests that take hours
Attaching live data and running integration tests
etc

Octopus Deploy

Octopus Role

Automate deployments
Change config values per env
Remove all manual steps
Click "go" and wait
- It deploys everything for us
- Provides feedback
Can deploy to hundreds of machines painlessly

Modern Applications - How we do work

What this is:

What this isn't:

Why should I listen to you?

Why should I care?

General Process

Source Control\Gitflow

Visual Studio Online

Git + command line tools

Poshgit

Gitflow - out of scope

Pull Requests

Pull Requests

Build Script + go.bat

General process of a build script

What NOT to put in a build script

So how do I make one?

Basic build script example

Generic go.bat runner

TeamCity

TeamCity role

Considerations and tradeoffs

Benefits

What about nightlies?

Octopus Deploy

Octopus Role

Demo time

Future things I'm excited about

Immutable Infrastructure

Containerisation

Webpack