Migrating to Adobe Commerce - Code Freeze
Last update: November 7, 2024
- Topics:
- Best Practices
CREATED FOR:
- Beginner
- Developer
Implementing a code freeze during your Adobe Commerce migration is crucial for ensuring a stable and successful launch. By halting new code deployments, you allow the QA team, developers, and stakeholders to work with a static codebase, increasing confidence and reducing the risk of defects. This process involves thorough testing and validation, addressing high-priority bugs, and ensuring all aspects of the site function as expected. A well-executed code freeze benefits the entire project, preventing last-minute issues and ensuring a smooth transition to Adobe Commerce.
Who is this video for?
- Project Managers trying to Ensure smooth project execution and minimizing risks.
- Developers looking to understand the necessity of a stable codebase for final testing.
- QA Teams trying to Gain clarity on the testing timeline and expectations.
- Business Stakeholders looking to Recognize the importance of final validation and launch readiness.
Video content
- Ensuring a static codebase for final QA testing and validation to prevent last-minute issues.
- Coordinating manual and automated tests, load testing, and penetration testing to ensure all aspects of the site function as expected.
- Engaging business stakeholders, developers, and IT teams in the validation process to ensure a smooth and successful launch.
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Transcript
This is Russell with Adobe, migrating to Adobe Commerce and implementing a code freeze. While the concept of a code freeze is nothing new, its problem lies with the execution. Traditionally, a code freeze has been considered a nice to have but often ignored. We need a code freeze to ensure that on launch day, we know exactly what to expect. This happens because the QA team, developers, stakeholders, and things like load testing were all performed with a static code base. Once you introduce new code, your level of confidence drops and depending on what was introduced, you may need to completely redo the entire QA and validation process. To a business owner, project stakeholders, and the development team, a code freeze has the same meaning. No new code can be deployed to your project. It’s also the date that the final QA testing and the stakeholder final validation can officially begin. Now there should be incremental testing and validation done before the state, but at this point, all the high priority existing bugs are resolved and the site is working end to end as expected. If any blocking issues are newly discovered at this phase, it may impact the launch and those appropriate teammates should be notified if possible to make an informed decision on how to proceed. So to figure out how long a code freeze should last, let’s ask our team a few questions. What day do we want to decide if we are still a go for the go live event? So for example, a go, no go discussion. How long does the QA team need to execute on their manual and automated tests? For business stakeholders, how long do they need to validate their respective aspects of the site? For those in charge of backend integrations and order orchestration, how long does it take for them to validate the end to end processes working? How long will load testing take? Can some of that be done after hours? How about penetration testing? You also have to consider like order fulfillment in that process. How far do they need to go before they can validate that the process is working as expected? There’s more, but this is just meant to show you this is not just about software development. Now, after considering what we just mentioned, a week or even two or more for a code freeze is realistic. There are many ways to decide what length it needs to be, but hopefully this will give you some ideas for that conversation. A code freeze is meant to benefit the entire project and everyone involved equally. It’s not a method to reduce scope, prevent scope creep. In fact, if you choose to ignore this process, you’re more open to defects and customer facing issues, heightened stress of the development team, as well as a lower level of confidence that your project is stable for launch. Please don’t consider a code freeze a nice to have. Educate all your teammates involved why this topic is important, how it’ll only benefit the project as a whole.
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