Databases in a Continuous Integration/Delivery Process
DevOps is transforming software development with many organizations adopting lean development practices, implementing continuous integration (CI), and performing regular continuous deployment (CD) to their production environments. However, the database is largely ignored and often seen as a bottleneck in the DevOps process. Steve Jones discusses the challenges of database development and why many developers find the database to be an impediment to the CD process. Steve shares the techniques you can use to fit a database into the DevOps process. Learn how to store database code in a version control system, and the differences between that and application code. Steve demonstrates a CI process with SQL code and uses automated testing frameworks to check the code. Steve then shows how automated releases with manual gates can reduce the stress and risk of database deployments while ensuring consistent, reliable, repeatable releases to QA, UAT, and production.
Steve Jones has been working with databases and computers for more than two decades. He has worked with SQL Server since 1991—from v4.2 through SQL Server 2016. He has been a DBA, developer, and manager in a variety of large and small companies across multiple industries. A founder of SQLServerCentral in 2001, Steve has been publishing technical articles and facilitating discussions among SQL Server professionals ever since. He currently is the full-time editor of SQLServerCentral, as well as an evangelist for Redgate Software. Steve is a ten-year Microsoft Data Platform MVP who lives on a horse ranch in Colorado.