IBM Rational ClearCase, Ant, and CruiseControl: The Java Developer's Guide to Accelerating and Automating the Build Process

Product Description

Optimize your entire Java build and release process with ClearCase^®, Ant, and CruiseControl

Better builds mean better software. Effective, regular build processes accelerate development and improve quality, helping you identify small problems early, before they grow complex and costly to fix. Now, there’s a step-by-step guide to creating Java build processes that are right for your organization. Leading build and release management expert Kevin Lee introduces best practices for integrating and using three exceptionally powerful and recognized industry standard tools: IBM Rational® ClearCase software configuration management system, the open source Ant build tool, and CruiseControl for automating continuous builds.

No previous build experience is necessary: Lee thoroughly explains everything from configuring SCM environments and defining build scripts through to release packaging and deployment. He offers solutions and techniques for both Base ClearCase and Unified Change Management (UCM)–IBM Rational’s best practice Software Configuration Management usage model. Key techniques are presented in real-world context, through a full-fledged three-tier application case study.

Whether you are a software developer, manager, or integrator, this book will help you create better builds–and reap the benefits in efficiency, traceability, quality, and speed.

Coverage includes

·     Ensuring that every build you create is complete, consistent, and reproducible

·     Configuring a ClearCase-controlled environment to support your development organization’s build and release process

·     Installing Ant and configuring it to build all of your project assets

·     Integrating Ant with ClearCase and effectively using them together

·     Installing CruiseControl and configuring it to schedule and automate different types of builds

·     Integrating CruiseControl with ClearCase to schedule builds and automate baselines and reports

·     Creating custom baseline and change request reports

·     Setting up automatic notification whenever build problems arise

·     Creating and packaging releasable, traceable builds with ClearCase and ClearQuest™

Table of Contents

Preface  xix

Part I   Overview  1

Chapter 1        Introduction to Software Build and Release Management  3

Part II  Environment  17

Chapter 2        Tools of the Trade  19

Chapter 3        Configuring Your SCM Environment  37

Part III Definition  61

Chapter 4        Defining Your Build and Release Scripts  63

Chapter 5        Apache Ant Best Practices  81

Part IV Execution  109

Chapter 6        Running Your Build Scripts  111

Chapter 7        CruiseControl Best Practices  131

Part V  Reporting  163

Chapter 8        Baseline and Change Request Reports  165

Chapter 9        Build Reporting and Auditing  195

Part VI Release  229

Chapter 10      The Art of Releasing  231

Chapter 11      Release Packaging and Deployment  259

Part VII Conclusion  291

Chapter 12      Putting It All Together  293

Glossary  315

Bibliography 325

Index  327

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