| Description | This paper seeks to get at the true nature of Continuous Integration and Build Management bydecomposing each practice into its constituent elements and examining the repercussions thereof. We will demonstrate that while Continuous Integration and Build Management share many superficial similarities, when it comes to the core of each practice there are significant differences. Understanding these differences is required to implement each practice in a meaningful manner as opposed to just going through the motions. But that goal forms only a part of our motivation. In addition, we aim to clear up the emergentconfusion in recent literature, discussions, and vendor materials regarding Build Management and Continuous Integration. And once that confusion is cleared, we believe that each practice may serve as a guidepost for the evolution of thought within our industry. To help us as we formulate our discussion, we will start with a brief description of what is meant byBuild Management and Continuous Integration. We will then examine each practice and its activities in light of purpose, traceability requirements, treatment of source code, and relationship with artifacts. |