How quickly can you create or update an environment?
A common reason why environments aren't updated and get out of sync is because it's a time-consuming or complex task.
The process should be simple to run, quick, reliable and reproducible.
It's the same as deploying a change to a staging or production environment.
You want the same result on every time on every environment.
You want every environment - including local development environments to be as consistent as possible to minimise bugs and errors.
To do this, I automate things to make them as simple as possible.
I use run files with commands to import databases, perform updates and run pre-update and post-update tasks.
I use tools like Nix and devenv to create identical and reproducible environments.
The simpler and quicker is it, the more it can and will be done.
You can also use automation to perform long or complex tasks outside of working hours such as sanitising and importing large databases.
The more you can automate, the better.
- Oliver
