Let's Do It Over Again: Configuration Mismanagement Techniques

Being told about good configuration management practices is boring and does not do this vital process justice. What if you do it badly, as many development groups do today? The ultimate failure in managing the configuration of a software product is having it so horribly out of control that it cannot be rebuilt and must be rewritten from scratch. Few developers can claim this spectacular achievement, but many projects employ configuration management practices that result in rework and a loss of reputation with customers. Using humor and sarcasm, Mark Pellegrini looks at examples of how poor configuration management practices can sabotage product development productivity and generally make everyone’s life miserable. Avoid embarrassment by creating and auditing baselines, releasing controlled betas, documenting build procedures, avoiding undocumented components, using version control, and much more.