Anti-patterns for continuous integration

Infrequent check-in of code: To detect issues as early as possible, developers should check-in their changes to the code base as often as possible. If developers are committing code infrequently, it can lead to longer feedback loops, and problems may go unnoticed for longer periods of time.

Manually building and testing changes: A key benefit of continuous integration is the ability to automatically build and test code changes. If teams rely on manual testing or building, it will slow down the development process and make it harder to detect issues early on.

Having builds run on a preset schedule rather than on commit: One of the main benefits of continuous integration is that it enables teams to detect issues as soon as possible, which is why builds should be triggered automatically every time changes are committed to the repository. If builds are only run on a preset schedule, it can lead to longer feedback loops and more issues slipping through.

Low coverage or inaccurate tests: The quality of the tests used during the continuous integration process is essential to its overall effectiveness. If tests are incomplete, missing, or inaccurate, issues are likely to slip through undetected.

Only testing in production: Continuous integration requires building, testing, and validating new changes to the code base. If teams are waiting to test changes only in production, it can lead to longer feedback loops, and issues may go unnoticed until they reach the end users.

Failure to provide useful feedback to developers during a build: Rapid and consistent feedback to developers is one of the core benefits of continuous integration. If feedback is not useful, it can be hard for developers to address issues, and it can slow down the development process.

Lack of collaboration: Continuous integration requires collaboration between developers, operations, security, and other stakeholders. If teams are not collaborating effectively, it can lead to issues slipping through, longer feedback loops, and slower development times.