(FromTheBuildMaster)

Because a build lab tends to have some downtime while the build team waits for compiles, links, andteststofinish, it should take advantage of these slow times to work on improvements to the build process.Afterthe labtests the improvements and confirms they are ready for primetime, it rolls out the changes. One waytodeploy anew build process after a shipping cycle is to send a memo to the whole team pointing to an internalWebsitethat has directions on the new process that the Central Build Team will be using in future productbuilds.

Today, the Windows build lab has its own development team working on writing and maintaining new andoldprojecttools. The development team also works on deploying new build processes. Conversely, of the morethan200customers I’ve spoken to, only one or two of them have developers working in a build team.

In 1991, Windows NT had only a few hundred thousand lines of code, unlike the more than 40 millionlinesof codethat Windows XP has today. Even in the early stages of developing Windows NT, Microsoft recognizedtheimportance of a good build process.