Once a team is larger than a single person, how can they make sure its codebase remains functional? How can they feel confident that adding features to their code does not break old ones? How can they catch bugs early and minimize the effort to fix them?

One answer to all these, and more, questions is Continuous Integration. Each change to the codebase is integrated into the whole as it is finished, so that at any time a limited number of changes is brought into scope. Issues are caught fast, and less time is spent debugging, while features can be added with confidence that the foundation of the code is in order. Further, developers get immediate feedback about the code they've added to the codebase.

In this talk I will lay out the theoretical foundations of Continuous Integration, providing a rationale for use as well as some background on the problems involved.

More importantly, I will show how such a system can be implemented using open source tools such as Travis or Jenkins, and how easily it can be brought into an existing development workflow. I will then demonstrate how a wide variety of test frameworks can be integrated into such a system, lowering the bar for use even further.

I will finish with an overview of some best practices of Continuous Integration, sharing some of the collective wisdom of a myriad of tests. In the end you will be in the position to get the most from a Continuous Integration implementation no matter the size of your team.