Atlassian Day in San Francisco? Awesome!

26Apr12


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Introducing Atlassian Bamboo 4.0

28Mar12

BIG NEWS FROM ATLASSIAN: “Between Mardi Gras, St. Patrick’s Day and unpredictable weather, March is one crazy month –and we at Atlassian are still deeply mad for DVCS! As an expression of our mania, we put extra love for DVCS users into Bamboo 4.0, now available for download. If you’re not a DVCS user (at least, not yet…), there’s no need to feel left out because Bamboo 4.0 has plenty of goodness for you, too. You know we wouldn’t do ya wrong!

Plan Branches Let You Automate More, and Configure Less

Branching your code is a fact of life in software projects –almost as unavoidable as death and taxes. One of the most common reasons for branching is to allow developers to work for a short time in isolation, which is all well and good. But this often means that code on the branches is not part of the team’s CI scheme, leaving uncertainty as to whether changes made on the branch work or not. And if new branches must be incorporated into the CI system manually, the administrative overhead quickly gets out of hand. To help restore developer confidence (and build engineers’ sanity), Bamboo 4.0 comes with advanced support for branching your build plans along with your code and merging the code lines regularly.

Automatic Branching for DVCS

Teams using DVCS repositories can have Bamboo automatically detect new branches in your repo within seconds of their creation. When a new branch is found, all Plans associated with that repo are cloned and connected to the new branch, with the option to override Plan variables and advanced repository settings.

Flexible Options for DVCS Merging

And we’ve got you covered for merging, too. In keeping with the idea that the best way to ease a painful process is to do it frequently, Plan branches can be automatically merged with the main code line in one of two ways.

The “Gatekeeper”

This strategy merges changes from your branch into the main line and builds the result. If successful, the merged code is committed and pushed to the main line, keeping the whole team in sync.

The “Build Updater”

Conversely, the “Build Updater” strategy merges the main line into the branch, and builds the combined code. The merged code is committed and pushed to the branch upon success. This option is great for making sure longer-living branches don’t stray far from the trunk.

Push-Button Branching for Centralized VCS

Teams using traditional version control systems can take advantage of quick and easy Plan branching whenever they need it: for release branches, patch branches or developer sandboxes. Just click a button to create the Plan branch, specify the branch’s location in your code repository, and you’re off & running! As with their automatically created counterparts, all push-button Plan branches are consolidated with the master for easy access and an at-a-glance view of all branches associated with your Plan.

Test Quarantine: the Antidote for Volatile Builds

Fans of “Freakonomics” know about the Broken Window Theory: the tendency of breakages that are left visible to invite further destruction and neglect. The world of software is no different. Builds with flaky or ever-failing tests tend to fall into severe decay because breakages become the norm. That’s why teams adopt the discipline of either fixing the problem right away, or pulling the test out. But if the test was worth writing, it’s worth keeping tabs on, and Bamboo’s new Quarantine feature makes that easy. Gone are the days of commenting out test code or manually updating test suite configuration files. Simply hit the Quarantine button next to a failing test, and let Bamboo do the dirty work. Not only that, but you’ll see the count of Quarantined tests in every build result as a reminder to reincorporate them into your build.

Clean Workspace, Clear Mind

Springtime means spring cleaning, so we’ve freshened up the UI in Bamboo 4.0. Don’t want to see the Plan Navigator all the time? Toggle it hidden or shown to keep content-packed pages free of clutter and easy to read. On the Plan Summary pages, you’ll notice the Plan Statistics panel has undergone a facelift. Underneath that, you’ll find a list of all branches for the Plan –complete with build status indicators! History buffs and stats junkies alike will rejoice in the new build history bar on Plan detail and configuration pages showing the status of the last 10 builds. Hover your mouse over any indicator to see the build number, what triggered the build and whether any tests failed.

But That’s Not All!

Bamboo 4.0 is over 100 fixes and enhancements in the making. Check out the full release notes for more details as well as the top 10 user-voted issues included in this release. We really do listen!

Upgrade to the latest and greatest in continuous integration servers by downloading your copy today. Start a 30-day free trial, or update your existing instance. Our online Installation and Upgrade Guides are here to help.”


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JIRA 5′s Social Perks

02Mar12

JIRA 5‘s a brilliant platform for collaboration, connecting the people, activity and applications you work with every day.

Software development involves your entire organization, and good software becomes great when you bring everyone into your development process. Atlassian JIRA 5′s here, connecting the dots between the development process and the rest of your business.

Your Platform for Collaboration

Software’s the center of much of our world today: it’s in your car, on the phone in your pocket, and it shapes how you work with teams, projects, and organizations.

JIRA sits at the center of your software development, from initial feature planning and assigning work, to tracking development work and testing, to managing project status and the final release. JIRA 5 takes collaboration to new levels by connecting people, activity, and applications around software development.

Issue Mentions

People & Teams

JIRA 5 has two powerful new ways to bring people into the conversation: ‘@mentions’ and sharing.

While JIRA’s email notifications are great for keeping everyone up-to-date with the issues they’re working on, sometimes you need to bring others into the conversation who might not be actively participating in an issue already.

With JIRA 5, simply @mention any user in a comment or description and they’ll receive an email indicating they have been mentioned. Autocomplete lets you select usernames on the fly and JIRA makes it easy to track who is involved in the comment stream.

Issue Share

The Share button lets you quickly send out a broadcast-style ‘FYI’ to people and teams you are working with.

Similar to sharing in Confluence 4, you can now share issues and saved searches by simply adding a user’s name or email address and typing a quick note with some details.

Activity & Applications

With new improvements to activity streams and issue linking, JIRA 5 is the central place to stay up-to-date with what’s happening on your projects.

Remote issue links allow you to connect JIRA issues to any website URL or application. This is great for connecting JIRA issues to pages in Confluence or issues in other instances of JIRA. External applications can also link to JIRA issues directly to any JIRA issue using the new JIRA REST API.

Activity Stream

Activity streams now show remote activity as well. In addition to real-time updates from JIRA, all other Atlassian products connected via Application Links will automatically show up in your feeds. This includes changes to Confluence pages, Bamboo build status, and source activity from FishEye, and more.

Remote applications and plugins can also add events their own to JIRA activity streams.

Connecting the Dots

Atlassian tools aren’t the only applications you use alongside JIRA… so Atlassian’s excited to share some killer integrations to connect the tools and teams you work with every day. Here are a few examples of how development teams are connecting with the teams around them.

Development to QA

Remote activity in streams

QA teams spend their time writing tests, planning execution cycles, running manual tests, kicking off automation scripts, and providing status updates in a test management tool like Zephyr. Developers spend time in JIRA, managing and tracking their own daily work, or planning work with their team.

JIRA 5 Activity Streams bridge the gap between tools like these, providing real-time updates between Zephyr and JIRA whenever major activity happens, such as:

  • beginning testing on a particular project or version/sprint/iteration
  • a particular test execution cycle starting
  • a brand new bug being filed or modified

Developers and anyone working in JIRA get a running feed on testing activities in Zephyr, as they occur, without having to reach out to those team members to chase up status updates.

Development to Product Management

Remote Links to Confluence

Confluence is a great tool for product managers to work on unstructured content, like requirements or specification docs. These are often directly related to one or more issues in JIRA.

With JIRA 5, it is easy to create a two-way link between JIRA issues and Confluence pages. Simply paste the URL to an issue into any Confluence page and the JIRA issue will automatically be updated with a link that page.

Development to Customer Support

Remote Issue Links

It doesn’t stop with Confluence. Remote issue links in JIRA 5 connects JIRA issues to other items the teams you work with use:

  • a document in Box
  • a customer record from Salesforce
  • a support ticket in Zendesk
  • a discussion topic from Get Satisfaction
  • and more..

Your Platform for Integration

JIRA 5 makes it easier for everyone to consume and develop plugins with two huge announcements around APIs: a stable Java API and a brand new REST API.

The stable Java API means every JIRA customer can rest assured that all JIRA 5.0 compatible plugins will be forwards compatible with JIRA 5.x releases. Atlassian wants the best possible experience for all JIRA users, so Atlassian is committed to investing in this set of stable APIs to support developers integrating with our tools. You won’t need to wait on a plugin when the next JIRA 5.x release comes out – you can upgrade right away, knowing all plugins built using this new stable API will be forwards compatible!

The JIRA 5 REST API gives you a new way to work with issues remotely – including the ability to search, create and link issues, and add remote events into the JIRA activity stream.

Get Connected with JIRA 5

JIRA 5 integrates with the tools developers and other teams use to help software development stay connected to the rest of the organization. Sharing and mentions make it easy to bring others into the conversation. Remote issue links keep dynamic, relevant information in a central place. Activity streams keep you updated on what’s happening in and outside of JIRA in real-time.

JIRA 5 is the center of software development, connecting people, activity and applications you work with every day, helping you make great software.

Check out JIRA 5


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Atlassian Releases JIRA 5

22Feb12

So you’ve probably heard already – Atlassian released JIRA 5 today, loaded with tons of new stuff. Here’s Atlassian’s press release, which gives a cumulative primer:

“SAN FRANCISCO & SYDNEY, February 22, 2012—Atlassian, the leading provider of collaboration software for product teams, today launched JIRA 5, the latest release of its flagship product. Available through both an OnDemand and on-site offering, JIRA 5 offers a social product development platform that connects people, applications and activity to accelerate the software development process. New social features such as mentions, sharing and live activity streams immediately bring users into real-time discussions.

JIRA 5′s platform – including an expanded plugin API and improved REST APIs –allows third-party software vendors to easily integrate with JIRA and create products that are seamlessly compatible with future JIRA releases, saving companies time and money. More than 30 integration partners, including Box, Gliffy, New Relic, Zephyr, Zendesk, Salesforce.com, Tempo and GetSatisfaction are launching JIRA 5 compatible third-party products. More than 100 commercial and free plugins are also available with today’s launch.

“JIRA 5 continues to push the software development process forward, this time through new social capabilities that improve real-time communication and better connect developers, technical teams, business users and customers – basically everyone building software products together,” said Jay Simons, president of Atlassian. “JIRA 5′s enhanced integration platform also helps connect information from other enterprise products – a sales ticket from Salesforce.com, or a customer service request from Zendesk – directly to the JIRA issue tracking and workflow engine, putting more information directly into the hands of product teams.”

JIRA is used by more than 70 percent of Fortune 100 companies. JIRA sits at the center of the software development process, connecting teams with development tasks such as bug tracking, feature development, agile planning, and activity monitoring.

Sharing Features Connect Developers, Teams and Data in Real Time

“Before JIRA, our developers lost so much time reproducing the wheel through a tedious process of figuring out what had been done and who’d already been involved,” said Alex Kirmse, head of mobile development for Zappos.

JIRA 5’s new sharing and mention features makes it easy to pull team members or co-workers into the conversation. Live activity streams update team members on all related activities and information, much like Facebook and Twitter activity streams.

“The effectiveness of our team’s communications has increased with direct commenting to individuals and live activity streams,” said Max Pool, Founder of Sycorr, a mobile banking company. “The integration platform for JIRA 5 is the best yet. REST APIs improve our ability to integrate across platforms, while improvements to JIRA’s powerful search engine (JQL) – such as historic change support – allow us to get even more creative in how we use the system and get the data we want from it.”

Building Businesses on the JIRA 5 Platform

JIRA 5’s new stable plugin API and improved REST APIs make it easy for integration partners and other plugin developers to build integrated software products. More than a quarter of JIRA’s 400 plugins and more than 15 remote SaaS integrations are launching with JIRA 5 compatibility. Plugins built using the JIRA 5 stable plugin API will be compatible with future upgrades to JIRA.

“We feel confident in betting our business on JIRA’s success,” explains Samir Shah, CEO of Zephyr. “JIRA 5′s new API connects development to QA, and gives our test case management tools more adoption because users know they can upgrade to future releases without having to wait on add-on upgrades.”

“JIRA 5 is another quantum leap by Atlassian in their mission to creatively enable large scale collaboration at the nexus of engineering and support,” said Adrian McDermott, vice president of engineering and product management at Zendesk. “This integration redefines how support and engineering teams can work together to enrich customer satisfaction.”

Availability

Starting today, Atlassian is offering a free 30-day trial of JIRA 5. JIRA can be purchased for on-site download for just $10 for 10 users, or OnDemand starting at $10/month for 10 users.

New JIRA Enterprise Offering

To ensure the success of large deployments, Atlassian is introducing a new JIRA Enterprise offering with additional support, training and engagement. Customers with 500 or more JIRA users can now receive 24X7 phone support, end-user training, and administrator certification, among other enhanced services. For more information, go tohttp://www.atlassian.com/enterprise.

Additional Resources

About Atlassian

Atlassian products help innovators everywhere plan, build and launch great software. More than 18,000 large and small organizations – including Citigroup, eBay, Netflix and Nike – use Atlassian’s issue tracking, collaboration and software-development products to work smarter and deliver quality results on time. Learn more at http://atlassian.com.”


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Continuous Integration Domination: JIRA Issues + Bamboo Builds

08Feb12

Here’s a video overview of Atlassian Bamboo’s integrations with JIRA. Learn how these two powerful tools combine forces to improve efficiency, traceability, and coordination across your product team. Read more on JIRA here, and discover more ways to achieve continuous integration Zen with Bamboo over here!


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