Yes I'd like to get someone to help me quickly figure out Selenium testing, and build automation which I think I seriously cannot spare the time for.
Even if I cannot get someone to help me figure out everything about continuous deployment at this point, figuring out some of it is good enough.
(I consider Selenium testing, etc as part of continuous deployment)
That person can work anywhere. As stated in my very first post, I hired an expert from the UK to help me with my Amazon Web Services setup for multiple SSL certs, so location is a non issue.
Who can you recommend to me? If the person is wary of my ability to pay up, I can set up a job in elance that the person can view and the transaction can take place over escrow funding. In fact I already have.
Do drop me a line at kimcity -at- gmail -DOT- com to hook me up with someone like that.
Initially, of course there is no problem with local deployments aka localhost.
Now there IS.
Because I need to have https, some pages have now broken.
Clearly the developers I recently hired and myself CANNOT test against https on local deployments.
>The other advantage is that by the time you are seriously ready to automate your build, it may be quite different from what you have now -- it depends on where your project goes, if you make a large pivot, mix in new technologies, and so on.
Yes I agree with you. But what I am asking is that currently, the code has grown to a size where i need to have the proper amount of automated processes for deployment and testing and I do NOT have the chops to do it myself.
So I would like to have some directions as to how to go about it myself? or hire someone to aid me?
>Staging is generally most useful when you are showing a working version of what you are building to a client (or anyone who might need to see it) while you are still in development.
Yes I do have 4 people to demo to.
>This is especially important when you have multiple developers because you don't know what the other guy is doing.
Yes I have 2 developers working independently. I hired them to increase the speed of development. Plus myself, that is 3 people working on different parts.
so my question is how do i get someone to help me?
or point me to the right resources?
I am getting the feeling that i am being perceived as someone enamored with a buzzword and ignoring basics.
I am also getting the feeling that the term continuous deployment is perceived as a gigantic ball of multiple scripts and processes for deployment, only suited for projects of a certain size.
I am going to state the following unspoken assumptions of mine. My bad that I unknowingly assumed that other readers believe in the same assumptions.
Hope this will help the discussion.
From a web application perspective, my assumptions are
a) continuous deployment/integration means able to (as much as possible) automate the process of deployment of the code on a server preferably one where the configuration is identical to the production server. regardless how much the code is completed.
b) continuous deployment/integration means able to (as much as possible) automate the process of testing the deployed code against unit tests or functional tests therefore allowing developers to add new features or re-factor existing code without fear of integration risks.
Again, I would like to seek help to automate (as much as possible) the process of deployment.
I already have Capistrano working but to a production environment.
I am not looking to hire from HN readers, though I do not rule that out. at the very least point me to good places to look for such people.
Like a stranger in another country, I need directions. Either take me where I want to go, or tell me where I can ask for better directions.
I hope that analogy works to express what I am asking for.
I understand what you mean. You are telling me not to put the cart before the horse.
I am thinking of deployment in the sense that, when i do a push of the repo code to the staging, the unit tests are executed and if all tests are passed, the code is then deployed on the staging proper.
Else it will be rolled back.
I do not have
a) staging
b) unit tests
c) a hook to run the unit tests when code is deployed to staging
I guess the above are important to development yes? Helps to discover bugs easier right?
>If you're spending a lot of time wrestling with deployment, automate it.
Yes I want to reduce time wrestling with deployment. I also want to make it easier for the freelancers that i hired to help me certain modules of the code to test their work on my staging (which is currently non-existent).
I just do not have sufficient knowledge about sys admin in general. I really want to reduce time spent on my non-core areas and focus on making my product "something people want"
>If Capistrano is important to your product and you're spending time with it, learn it yourself.
I had a very good experience hiring this Linux expert from UK who not only installed multiple SSL certs for me on AWS and explained why in great detail.
That is why I am also seeking someone not only to implement solutions but also to teach me the hows and whys of automating deployment.
I am sorry if my intention was not clear from the outset. English is not my native language.
Do you know someone who possibly fits the bill?
Thank you for taking time out to answer the question here. I really appreciate it.
I thought having a proper continuous deployment helps with development?
I want to shorten my learning curve and honestly I have my hands full.
Other people created startups by hiring freelancers to do their coding, so your argument about being exposed to the risks of not being able to fix the very thing that the hires created also applies to them.
I am quite sure they were not stopped by that.
I do acknowledge that risk you are talking about hence I am also requesting for documentation and a proper handover.
Basically, I would like someone to
a) implement the setup for me once
b) show it to me how it is done
c) undo everything and let me do it once.
If not possible to do all a, b, c), i dont mind hiring someone to at least do a) and b).
Yes I'd like to get someone to help me quickly figure out Selenium testing, and build automation which I think I seriously cannot spare the time for.
Even if I cannot get someone to help me figure out everything about continuous deployment at this point, figuring out some of it is good enough.
(I consider Selenium testing, etc as part of continuous deployment)
That person can work anywhere. As stated in my very first post, I hired an expert from the UK to help me with my Amazon Web Services setup for multiple SSL certs, so location is a non issue.
Who can you recommend to me? If the person is wary of my ability to pay up, I can set up a job in elance that the person can view and the transaction can take place over escrow funding. In fact I already have.
Do drop me a line at kimcity -at- gmail -DOT- com to hook me up with someone like that.
Appreciate the help.
Thank you.