Search in Book Reviews

This book provides a practical guide for projects setting up an automated build, test and release process using Clearcase in conjunction with Ant and CruiseControl.

The subtitle of the book, 'The Java Developer's Guide to Accelerating and Automating the Build Process', will deter a wider, non-Java audience. This is a pity because the majority of the book is applicable to developers using other software languages. Developers using .Net, in particular, should have little trouble translating the descriptions into their .Net equivalents.

The first section provides a good overview of Configuration and Change Management and I found myself agreeing with the author's comments on the tools and process involved. This section could be heavy going, however, unless you are already familiar with Clearcase in either Base or UCM setup.

The individual tools are then introduced along with good examples and best-practice guidelines. These sections are clear and do not require previous knowledge of the tools.

The author then explains how the tools can be combined into an effective overall build and test strategy.

Finally, the book contains a glossary of terms that I found useful to clarify the terminology with each of the tools.

If you use other configuration management tools and are prepared to devote some effort to understanding Clearcase terminology and concepts, I think this book could still prove beneficial.

I highly recommend this book for current Clearcase users who will find it an invaluable resource.

I will now be passing this book around the members of my team responsible for the software build, test and release where I know its content will be extensively applied.