Getting CLor CSA into CI/CD!

stabeek

Hi

The term/abbreviation CI/CD has entered business lexicon now
(it means Continuous Integration / Continuous Development)

with the idea being that as a software product is improved through ongoing development,
it gets regularly integrated into production, so that the business benefits can come through faster. (other interpretations are possible, that's just mine)

But with the huge number of new platforms/tools/technologies arriving thick and fast in the last 10 to 15 years, surely there's a place for continuous learning (CL) as well. Actually I think all software devs must spend quite a while on tutorial sites as well, but probably, the business end doesn't want to know about this. So the only way is to be stealthy (i.e. deceitful) about the time spent on investigating new techtools.

That said, I imagine there are a few software companies that recognise this, but they would be a minority.

In any case, behind CL learning or CSA (continuous skill acquisition), there is another may I say, maligned activity: documentation. I'd better qualify: Documentation itself is not maligned, but rather the time spent in undertaking it is maligned.

Both learning and documentation have to be done, and in many cases, devs must under-report how much time they take (say half an afternoon each week ... it's probably 2x or even 4x that).

If your job allows you some margin in your targets, maybe you can slip it in, but I'm sure there are occasions (when a deadline looms) when both learning and documentation have to be dispensed with. Great. well, paradoxically perhaps the product itself might get to market quicker then (with more questionable quality I could add), but outside of the short term, you know you're going nowhere.

Get CL or CSA into CI/CD!