Wow - a big, fancy phrase that may seem intimidating at first. Let's break it down: "Continuous" meaning constantly, all the time; and "Integration" - building smaller parts into a larger whole. "Constantly Building" ? Well, that's pretty darn close. So, what are we constantly building here? Sure, we're churning out new features regularly, but … Continue reading Continuous Integration with Hudson
Author: Dan Ackerson
Back to the roots: Bridging the Deployment Gap
Matthias and I started this blog over a year ago because we had first-hand experiences with the rift between developers and sysadmins. We knew this was a lose-lose situation not only for those directly involved, but the companies they were working for as well. We've described many real-life examples of how to overcome this rift, … Continue reading Back to the roots: Bridging the Deployment Gap
Deploying with Capistrano
At the end of April, I wrote about how automatic rsyncs were making my operations life a living hell. Enter Summer, vacation, new developer and here we are mid-September before I finally get around to permanently fixing this problem. But, I can't really blame all of it on life - after Matthias gave me a … Continue reading Deploying with Capistrano
Migrating to Google Custom Search
"Do what you do best, and link to the rest." - Jeff Jarvis Our search has been suffering for the past year. Decreased usage and miserable performance had combined to make it a wasteland of vain suppositions which alienated our users. Enter Google Custom Search. The Users Have Spoken (and we're listening) We were averaging … Continue reading Migrating to Google Custom Search
Would you like fries with that?
Recently, we got a new developer at NetDoktor. It's strange but exciting that I finally have a colleague to work with again, a fellow developer to bounce ideas off of, a buddy for pair programming and a sparring partner for test driven development. I'm pretty psyched. Though long overdue (we've been searching since April), the … Continue reading Would you like fries with that?
Optimizing Site Performance: Cookieless Domains
We all like eating cookies, but only so many. Some websites, though, force too many down our throat and I have to say mine was one of those guilty ones. Google's Page Speed tool (and site) gives you an incredible amount of website optimization info. Analyzing my page's performance showed that all the static content … Continue reading Optimizing Site Performance: Cookieless Domains
Too Busy to Blog
I've been busier than a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest the past few weeks. And because of this I haven't been keeping up with my weekly posts. But yesterday, after getting through the guilt trip, I realized that I was missing more than just blogging. I was missing my weekly retrospectives and thereby losing … Continue reading Too Busy to Blog
Using SiteSucker For Testing Redirects
My boss threw down the gauntlet Monday morning during our weekly meeting. In relaunching one of our decade old platforms, we couldn't afford to get bashed by fickle finger of Google Search Results and I needed to take extra care in ensuring all redirects were properly made. With over twenty thousand pages, it was no … Continue reading Using SiteSucker For Testing Redirects
Getting a Quick Overview of your Site’s Response Times
I promised you a couple weeks back to share some more code for building your own XFD (extreme feedback device). Embedding Munin graphs is child's play, so I thought I'd give you a head-start with the Pingdom API. And we all know how critical site response times are to the success of your online business. … Continue reading Getting a Quick Overview of your Site’s Response Times
Splunking for Spikes
We had a short load spike on our application servers a couple weeks back. A load of 28 on a 4-core machine is more than uncomfortable - it's downright dangerous. Luckily, it only lasted for 2 minutes and, just as suddenly as it came, vanished again without a trace. Well, that's not quite true, because … Continue reading Splunking for Spikes
