Talk for the Dutch python user group ("PUN") meeting in Veenendaal, May 2009. Goal: encourage you to automate your projects more.

1. Practical project automation
Reinout van Rees
http://www.thehealthagency.com/
http://reinout.vanrees.org

2. Practical project automation
• Practical: tips & pointers, illustrated with examples from
The Health Agency
• Project: your projects are important, right?
• Automation: get help from the computer

3. Project + repeatable + automatable
• Bunch of code
• Bunch of configuration
• Probably scripts
• Collect, inititialize, convert, (compile)
• => BUILD TOOLS
• Make, scons, a.a.p., buildout
• Write buildout extensions
• Example: z3c.recipe.usercrontab
• Example: tha.recipe.logcheck

4. z3c.recipe.usercrontab
[apachelogcheck-cronjob]
recipe = z3c.recipe.usercrontab
times = 39 12 * * *
command = ${apachelogcheck:command}

5. tha.recipe.logcheck

6. Quality control: buildbot + tests
• python setup.py test or bin/test
• The jackpot: buildbot
• Oops, I forgot aaaa
• Oops, I forgot bbbb
• Oops, I did cccc
• Example: content (xml docbook) checking

7. Buildbot screenshot

8. Quality control: buildbot + tests
• python setup.py test or bin/test
• The jackpot: buildbot
• Oops, I forgot aaaa
• Oops, I forgot bbbb
• Oops, I did cccc
• Example: content (xml docbook) checking

9. Quality: make it easy to do the good thing
• Small scripts: python instead of shell?
• Automate away boring fault-attracting tasks
• Example: zest.releaser
• Example: tha.coverage
• Skeletons (“pastescript”, but see ZopeSkel)
• Example: in-company skeletons

10. zest.releaser

11. tha.coverage

12. Quality: make it easy to do the good thing
• Small scripts: python instead of shell?
• Automate away boring fault-attracting tasks
• Example: zest.releaser
• Example: tha.coverage
• Skeletons (“pastescript”, but see ZopeSkel)
• Example: in-company skeletons

13. Skeleton for namespaced library

14. Closing comments
• Automation is nice work. Fun.
• It ensures quality.
• Get into the habit: do it also for your own private tasks
• It pays of in spades
• So: automate your projects
• http://reinout.vanrees.org/weblog
• (Which I also largely automated, of course)