Release Engineering

Release engineering is a relatively new and fast-growing discipline for building and delivering software. Release engineers at Google, for instance, use knowledge of development, configuration management, test integration, system administration, and customer support to compile, assemble, and deliver source code into software components or finished products. With this excerpt from O’Reilly’s Site Reliability Engineering, you’ll learn how Google’s approach can inform your own company’s release engineering process—regardless of company size or the tools you use. Google Release Team member Dinah McNutt explains the rationale behind the company’s release engineering philosophy of self-sufficient teams, frequent (often-hourly) releases, and a self-contained build process that depends on known versions of build tools and dependencies. You’ll discover a proven process for manufacturing software that is repeatable, gives predictable results, scales well, and can contribute to the growth of your company.