Simple Continuous Integration with Rails: CruiseControl.rb

In case you missed the official announcement, the CruiseControl family of Continuous Integration (CI) systems has a new member; please welcome CruiseControl.rb.

I’ve always been addicted to its .NET counterpart, but this guy is so incredibly simple to setup and tweak that it certainly deserves a lot of attention.

In fact, it is already up and running here at InnerWorkings, right beside its older brother, polling data from our trusted Subversion code repository; it executes ruby-based acceptance tests on a .NET project we are working on.
We could certainly move the entire project there, but for now we’ll probably leave everything as it is.

After all, we can still use the same cctray client to monitor both CI systems on our Windows machines.

Not surprisingly, CruiseControl.rb uses Rake, which is quickly becoming my favorite build language; I find it way more enjoyable and expressive than any xml-based language I’ve used in the past (mainly NAnt and MSBuild).

There are rumors that CruiseControl.rb is set to become the “official” continuous integration system for Rails applications.

It is certainly an easy choice if you are into Rails, but I would definitely consider adopting it for any type of application, including .NET.

Why? Well, here is my story :-):

As a developer, I want to use, create, and maintain simple and essential software, so that I can focus on delivering value without being lost in the act of writing code.

Claudio Perrone

My passion is to develop the critical thinking skills of people and help them bring the best of their work to the world. Lean & Agile management consultant, startup strategist, award-winning speaker and entrepreneur. Creative force behind A3 Thinker and PopcornFlow.